What to know about sign-stealing talk surrounding Chiefs’ next opponent, Jaguars
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Jaguars coach Coen denied wrongdoing after sign-stealing claims by 49ers' Saleh.
- Saleh credited Jaguars' legal strategy as yielding advantageous in-game reads.
- NFL permits film and live observation for signal decoding but bans sideline filming.
One of the viral videos from this weekend’s NFL games took place after a game.
Following the Jaguars’ 26-21 win over the 49ers, Jacksonville coach Liam Coen told 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh: “Keep my name out of your mouth.”
That came days after Saleh had told reporters that the Jaguars have an “advanced signal-stealing-type system.” With the Chiefs headed to Jacksonville for a “Monday Night Football” matchup, here’s more on the Jaguars and talk of sign-stealing.
‘Legal’ signal stealing?
While talking with reporters last Thursday, Saleh said the 49ers needed to be careful with their communication.
“Jacksonville, this is a very young, but it’s a very talented group,” Saleh told reporters. “Liam and his staff, a couple guys coming from Minnesota, they’ve got a — legally — a really advanced signal-stealing-type system where they always find a way to put themselves in an advantageous situation.
“They do a great job of it. They formation you to just try to find any nugget they can. So we’ve got to be great with our signals and we gotta be great with our communication to combat some of the tells that we might give on the field.”
Saleh was asked who is having their signals stolen.
“That’s the ultimate trick, whether it’s people from the sideline or whether it’s our individual hand signals,” he said. “Whatever nugget they can find, they catch it. They always happen to find themselves in good situations based on the coverage you show. There’s nothing illegal about it. I’m not suggesting that.
“It’s just, you can tell that they’ve got a system that’s getting them into a very advantageous position. It gets them into a very advantageous position multiple times during the course of a game.”
Coen was asked Friday about Saleh’s comments and he initially tried to brush aside the signal-stealing talk.
But Coen did mention how the Jaguars coaching staff prepares for a game.
“We have kind of typically by formation, by game plan, by working really hard as a coaching staff throughout the week, trying to get indicators by your formation, motion, shift, presnap; those are the things you’re trying to do as a coach if you’re trying to put your players in the best position to be successful,” Coen said.
“It’s a lot of hard work that goes into game-planning.”
Is signal-stealing allowed in the NFL?
Saleh made a point of saying the Jaguars weren’t doing anything illegal, and the NFL hasn’t felt the need to comment either.
Sports Illustrated’s Conor Orr broke down what is legal and illegal when it comes to trying to decipher an opposing team’s signals..
“Teams are permitted to use television tape and all-22 film (film that is shot by each team during a game from designated areas at midfield and behind both end zones) to break codes,” Orr wrote. “Coaches are also allowed to notice signals being relayed from the press box during a live game.
“It’s not legal ... to film coaching signals from unauthorized areas, such as from the sideline or, in one of the great forgotten scandals of the post-Spygate era, in the Bengals’ press box while claiming to do a video feature on your advance scouts.”
This story was originally published September 30, 2025 at 10:15 AM.
