M.J. Emerson Jr. had to remind himself to stay focused on the field several times during his career at Mississippi State.
The reminder wasn’t because of a lack of concentration or struggles. Emerson, a rookie CB the Browns drafted in the third round, was feeling the dull repetitiveness of not having the ball thrown to the receiver he was covering.
He was targeted only 59 times in 410 coverage snaps (14 percent) in 2020, and that number shrunk to 49 targets in 374 coverage snaps (13 percent) in his final college season. Emerson didn’t have an interception in either of those years — partially due to the lack of targets — but he led the Bulldogs with 11 pass breakups in 2020 and had three more of them in 2021.
Emerson was hungry for the football. Quarterbacks wouldn’t give him many opportunities to take it.
“Sometimes I’d have to tell myself ‘lock in’ — the ball is coming sooner than later,'” Emerson said Friday. “It really didn’t come too much.”
Emerson expects that to change in his first NFL season, and he’s wise in doing so.
Rookie defensive backs are constantly targeted their first year in the league as quarterbacks attempt to find their weaknesses and expose their lack of experience. It happened to his position teammate, Greg Newsome II, last year when he was a rookie and was targeted 58 times, just 13 less targets than top corner Denzel Ward, who also played three more games than Newsome.
Emerson won’t be expected to play the same amount as Newsome, a 2021 first-round rookie, played his first year in the league, but he’ll still be a key depth piece at the position and will be a player the Browns will depend on if injuries arise.
Whenever he’s on the field, Emerson will undoubtedly be tested. He’s ready for the challenge.
“I’m very excited,” he said with a big smile.
Emerson has mostly played on the second team so far in training camp but has occasionally moved up to…
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