BEREA — The question to Martin Emerson Jr. was direct. Emerson's response to the question was even more direct.
Are you playing as well as you did a year ago?
"Last year I didn't give up a touchdown, so no," Emerson said Wednesday. "No, not right now. Not at this point."
Emerson came into his third season as one of the most hyped young cornerbacks in the league. He was praised for his ability to man up against some of the top wide receivers in the game, a trait he really started to showcase midway through his rookie season when he was matched against the Los Angeles Chargers' Mike Williams and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Mike Evans.
This season has shown that progress is not linear. Certainly, it hasn't been for Emerson, the former third-round pick out of Mississippi State.
"Self-evaluation, I'm not playing the ball that I want to play right now," Emerson said. "Of course not. If I give up anything, that's my job is to eliminate whatever receiver I'm covering at that moment. So of course if I give up anything, me being passionate and the competitor I am, I'm gonna be hard on myself for sure."
According to Pro Football Focus, Emerson has been targeted 25 times in five games, with 16 receptions against him, for 193 yards. Opposing quarterbacks have posted a 127.2 passer rating on passes thrown in his direction.
The Browns loss at the Washington Commanders summed up the season for Emerson. Although he was only targeted five times by Commanders rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels, according to PFF, three of those went for completions for a total of 45 yards.
However, 41 of those yards came on one back-breaking play, both for Emerson and the Browns. That was Daniels' dime of a touchdown pass to Dyami Brown right before the half to give the Commanders a 24-3 halftime lead.
Emerson admitted fatigue played a role in him getting beat on the play. He had chased after Brown on a go route, then followed Olamide Zaccheaus on a slant route and a deep crossing pattern — a play on which Daniels scrambled — on the three plays immediately before the touchdown pass.
"Yeah, we was in man, we was in man for some plays in a row," Emerson said. "The quarterback's running out the pocket, scramble drill. I got two fades before that, got a dig and then I got a scramble drill, but the quarterback was running, so I was pretty gassed. It was just because just how much I was running on that series.
"I just got to play off in that instance. I could, but I didn't want to give him a pitch and catch, anything really easy to get in field goal range."
The touchdown was one of three Emerson has allowed this season. All three have come in games against NFC East opponents — Washington, the New York Giants and the Dallas Cowboys — which have also been the three highest passer ratings against him this season, all of them at least 129.2.
Emerson will find himself facing another one Sunday when the Browns (1-4) play at the Philadelphia Eagles (2-2). The Eagles, coming off their bye week, are expected to have both A.J. Brown (hamstring) and DeVonta Smith (concussion) back after missing time due to injuries.
It was against Brown and Smith during last year's joint practices in Philadelphia that Emerson really opened a lot of eyes with his performance. Coming off last Sunday's game, another trip to the I-95 corridor against another NFC East opponent may be just what he asked for to shake away the memories.
"When the game's over, it doesn't really matter how I play," Emerson said. "I mean, obviously if I play good then it's good, you know what I'm saying? But if I play bad, it's still the same mentality. It's next-game mentality because that's the most important week because that's what we have coming up this week."
Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: 'I'm going to be hard on myself': Martin Emerson Jr. shaking off disappointing start
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