Martin Emerson and Justin Jefferson Put on a Show in Browns and Vikings Last Joint Practice.
BEREA, Ohio – The Browns and the Vikings finished up the final day of their joint practices Thursday and all eyes were, once again, on the matchup between cornerback MJ Emerson and wide receiver Justin Jefferson.
It started with 1-on-1 drills to begin practice, during which the two got physical early on. Jefferson matched up with Emerson in the red zone 3 times, and of those 3 times, he caught 2 touchdown passes. However, Emerson got his revenge in their 2nd rep against each other.
Emerson and Jefferson continued their battle into 7-on-7s and 11-on-11s. While the Vikings offense had the better of the Browns defense in the drills, Emerson got the better of Jefferson early on.
Jefferson had only one catch in the first portion of team drills and was being shadowed by Emerson almost every play that the first team was on the field. However, the Vikings offense was still winning the day and after a 30-yard touchdown strike, Justin Jefferson let the Browns defense hear it.
“Catch the ball!” Mj Emrson yelled to Jefferson after his trash talk, “I been catching the ball, go back and watch the film!” Jefferson responded.
A couple of plays later quarterback Sam Darnold found Justin Jefferson in the back of the endzone for a touchdown on a play where Emerson was in coverage.
“Where you at 23! Talk to me now 23!” Jefferson shouted to Emerson after scoring the touchdown.
However, Emerson got his revenge going into 2-minute drills. The Vikings continued to look Jefferson’s way and Emerson was ready. The 2 balls thrown to Jefferson while Emerson was covering fell incomplete with the 2nd being an out route that he read perfectly and knocked the ball out of Jefferson’s hands.
With Denzel and Greg Newsome down with injury, this was a matchup that had the most eyes on it- and it certainly lived up to the hype. It seemed as if they were getting revenge on each other every single play while keeping the banter at a premium in the process.
“Anytime that Justin starts a drill out with two straight touchdowns to start the drill, the other side is gonna hear about it.” Vikings Coach Kevin O’Connell said, “But like I said a bunch of competitors I think Emerson had some good plays today and I think Justin is a guy who always brings out the best in the guys who are covering him.”
Jefferson is regarded as one of the best, if not the best, receivers in the NFL. While Mj Emerson has well outperformed from his 3rd-round draft position, he is still trying to etch his name as one the elite cornerbacks in the league.
“Oh for sure, he’s a long physical corner, he is definitely going to cause some problems out there on the field,” Justin Jefferson said when asked if Emerson could be up there with the best of the best corners in the league. “It’s great to go up against corner like that to give me the extra work or just put an extra little boost in my play style.”
When Jefferson was asked who won the matchup this week between him and Emerson he played it off with a smirk and some mumbled to himself to the media. He finished by saying that he views Emerson as a tremendous corner and said it was great work for both of them.
Unfortunately, this will be the last we see of the matchup between Jefferson and Emerson this week since Jefferson will not be playing on Saturday. However, if the Browns were not confident they had a star cornerback in Emerson before this week, they sure are confident they have one now.