BEREA − The first time Martin Emerson Jr. started as a freshman at Mississippi State, he found himself thrust right into the fire.

It was 2019, and Emerson and the Bulldogs were facing undefeated LSU in Starkville. On the other side, the Tigers boasted arguably one of the best college offenses ever, with Joe Burrow at quarterback, Ja'Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson at receiver and Clyde Edwards-Helaire at running back.

"I played pretty good," Emerson recalled this week. "I remember they came in and was 6-0. We played a good first half, second half they kind of took off. We played a good game. Ja’Marr Chase had like 33 yards. … Justin Jefferson, he was a problem that game, still is."

That was Emerson's introduction to Burrow, who went on to win the Heisman Trophy while leading LSU to the national championship. On Monday, the two former SEC West rivals will face off again when the former starts at cornerback for the Browns when they host the latter's Cincinnati Bengals.

The challenge will be a little less daunting − only a little − because Emerson won't have to face someone else from that 2019 game. Chase has been ruled out for the game with a hip injury that may require a trip to the injured reserve list.

Still, the Bengals will be bringing Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd with them to Cleveland. And, of course, they will have Burrow, who completed 25 of 32 passes for 327 yards and four touchdowns in that 2019 game against Emerson's Mississippi State team.

The Burrow who Emerson saw as a college freshman resembles the one he'll see as an NFL rookie in terms of playing at an elite level. That only makes the job tougher for not just Emerson, who'll start in place of Denzel Ward for the third game in a row, but the entire Browns defense.

"He’s a great quarterback," Emerson said of Burrow, "so I feel like he reads defenses well and he gets the ball out of his hands fast. He’s a great player."

Emerson has undergone a baptism by fire in his rookie season. The third-round pick in April was thrust from his first game into a bigger role than some may have expected when Greedy Williams' early-season trip to the injured reserve opened the door for him to play as the third cornerback in the nickle.

Through the first seven games, Emerson has played 310 defensive snaps, with at least 30 snaps a game in six of the seven. Of those snaps, 269 of them have come at a wide corner spot, and 129 of them have come in the last two games against the New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens.

That playing time has made an impact on Emerson and allowed himself to get even more comfortable with each snap.

"Just getting into that groove and being confident," Emerson said. "The more reps just makes everything better, just being out there with my team and just building trust with each other. I feel like I’m getting better and just going to keep getting better."

Emerson is also getting more put on his plate each week. Obviously, starting in place of a Pro Bowl cornerback is a big responsibility in and of itself.

However, schematically, the Browns are dialing more up to utilize the big-bodied, physical corner. Against the Ravens last week, they called a delayed blitz for Emerson on the first play of the second half, and he sacked Lamar Jackson for a seven-yard loss.

"Coach would always tell me, 'Add,'" Emerson said. "If my guy blocks in that coverage, he always told me to add. There’s a lot of plays that I didn’t add, but I’m finally adding, I’ve got it fixed. I’m pretty sure I’ll add more often."

According to Pro Football Focus, Emerson has been targeted 35 times by opposing quarterbacks. They've completed 21 of those passes for 226 yards, but just one touchdown, that coming in the Week 2 loss to the New York Jets.

For the season, Emerson is fifth on the Browns in total tackles with 27, and tied for fourth in solo stops with 26. He has four passes defensed.

"Just confidence," cornerback Greg Newsome II said of Emerson's growth. "I see him, the mistakes that he's been making, I feel like he's been cleaning those up, but it's his confidence, I feel like he's getting his confidence out there, he's been having a great rookie season.

Emerson has been the victim of a little bit of bad luck on a couple of catches made against him. Back in Week 3 against Pittsburgh, George Pickens made a spectacular one-handed catch for 36 yards despite tight coverage by the Browns rookie.

Last week against the Ravens, Emerson was again in position in the coverage when Devin Duvernay made a diving catch for a 31-yard gain. That proved to be the longest completion of the game for the Ravens.

Those highlight-reel catches against Emerson do show one thing. Teams are trying to challenge him as the new guy out there in the secondary, and it's something he's willing to tackle head-on.

The best example came in Week 5 against the Los Angeles Chargers. Faced with a fourth-and-1 from their own 46 with 1:14 remaining and holding a 30-28 lead, the Chargers elected to go for it.

The play was designed to throw at Emerson, who was defending the Chargers' Mike Williams. The rookie made the pass break-up, giving the Browns a shot at potentially winning the game.

"Yeah, that’s exciting, for me it is," Emerson said. "I’m up for the challenge. I’m a competitor. I want to compete. That’s fun, getting action in the game and just learning. Having good reps and just learning from my bad ones. It’s really fun, that’s what I came here for, to compete and do my job."

Contact Chris at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com.

On Twitter: @ceasterling ABJ

Bengals at Browns

Time: 8:15 p.m. Monday

TV: ESPN/ABC (Channel 5)

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Martin Emerson Jr. gets into the groove as Browns rookie faces Bengals