Niners’ Robert Saleh regrets ‘bad choice of words’ in sign-stealing compliment to Jags’ Liam Coen

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh said Tuesday his choice of words was poor when he said Jacksonville coach Liam Coen’s staff was elite at sign stealing in a legal fashion.

Saleh’s comments last week led to a postgame dustup on the field between Saleh and Coen on Sunday after Jacksonville beat San Francisco, with players keeping the coaches apart as they yelled back and forth at each other.

“In my heart, genuinely, I was trying to give a compliment,” Saleh said Tuesday. “I own the fact that I probably used the wrong choice of words, but however you want to word it, I mean, they’re really, really good at putting their players in position to be successful. As coaches, we’re always chasing leverage. They’re trying to have winning leverage. We’re trying to take leverage away. Everyone in the league is trying to find every avenue they can. As a coach watching their tape, I recognize the amount of hours that must be spent to be able to build formations and to find every little indicator they can to give their players a chance to be in a successful position.”

Saleh stressed last week when he made the initial comments that everything Jacksonville was doing was legal, but the Jaguars were apparently still offended by it, as evidenced by Coen yelling at Saleh to “keep my name out of your mouth” and quarterback Trevor Lawrence saying it added fuel to the team.

“It’s one of those things that ultimately, you’re always looking for an edge,” Coen said Monday. “You’re always looking for an edge as a player, as a coach, you always go back and look at Michael Jordan making up things of what players, people say about him to get him juiced up for a game and it’s just part of the competitiveness within our profession and the way this thing goes and I thought everybody kind of worked off that a little bit.”

Saleh said he tried to explain his stance to Coen after the game but was unable to do so because of the yelling back and forth. He said the two haven’t talked since.

“The intent was to say exactly what I just said, that I think he’s doing a really nice job, which I do,” Saleh said. “That football team is playing and taking on his personality. They’re playing violently on the offensive line and their running backs are running really hard. I think they’re doing a really, really nice job and I just wanted to let him know that I appreciate the way he’s going about his business with his football team.”

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AP Pro Football Writer Mark Long contributed to this report

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