Belichick: Taylor read blockers and quarterbacks by their nerves

Bill Belichick said Lawrence Taylor could tell who was blocking him and whether a play was a pass or run just by reading the expressions across the line of scrimmage.

Belichick made the comments during an appearance on "Hang Out with Sean Hannity." He said Taylor's instincts set him apart from other players.

"Taylor had instincts beyond instincts," Belichick said. "He was tremendously gifted, but he also knew the game extremely well instinctively. He could tell who was going to block him, Sean, by how scared they were. If they weren't nervous, they weren't blocking him. If they were nervous, that's who was going to block him."

"If the quarterback was nervous, it was a pass. If the quarterback wasn't nervous, he was handing the ball off. He could just tell," Belichick added.

Belichick first observed Taylor's ability after the Giants selected him with the second overall pick in the 1981 NFL Draft. Belichick was then the team's linebackers and special teams coach under head coach Bill Parcells. He later served as defensive coordinator from 1985 through 1990.

Belichick said Taylor quickly grasped an opponent's plan. "Within two or three plays within the start of the game, he had a good sense of how they were trying to deal with him and what their gameplan was for him," he told Hannity. "Sometimes, it was what we had planned on. Sometimes, he would come to the sideline and he would say, 'Coach, they're not doing what you said they were going to do. Here's what they were doing.' I trusted him because he really could see where they were looking, how their posture was, and so forth."

Taylor also played on special teams. "He covered punts, he rushed punts, he was on kickoff return, he was on kickoff coverage, he was on field goal protection and he blocked field goals," Belichick said. "He didn't come off the field, but he made plays."

Belichick said Taylor never took plays off on big moments. "Any time it was a big play, you got his best effort," he said.

Taylor won two Super Bowls with the Giants and was named the 1986 NFL MVP. He finished his 13-year career with 142 sacks, 41 forced fumbles and nine interceptions in 184 games.