Update (10:15 pm): I started the following Q&A with Staley after the game by asking him about the exchange seen below.
Q: What were you upset about?
Staley: Personal foul penalty on me.
Q: Did you think you had that ball?
Staley: Yeah, I had my hands on it. The guy fell on it and I was trying to pull it out.
Q: What did you do to get that penalty?
Staley: I told the ref he was terrible at his job.
Q: In those exact words?
Staley: No. Paraphrasing.
***
After the Chargers recovered Colin Kaepernick’s fumble in the end zone for a touchdown, cameras caught an exchange on the sideline between Jim Harbaugh and Joe Staley. @LOLKNBR captured their not-so-friendly discussion in GIF form.
I’m not the best lip-reader around, so I’m not sure if this is a similar situation to the recent sideline tantrum from Tom Brady, which led to a few complaints to the FCC from overly sensitive fans. A few fans seemed to think Staley said some naughty things to his head coach, but … well, you know.