Martin Emerson Jr. intercepted Jameis Winston and J.J. McCarthy on Sunday, two of the four takeaways that carried the New Orleans Saints past the New York Giants, 34-27,, and afterward the cornerback pointed first to his faith and then to a message his coaches had pressed on the secondary all week.
Emerson said he gives the glory to God and that whenever a chance to shine comes his way, he tries to make an impact with it. He also said Brandon Staley had stressed through the week of practice that the defensive backs had to step up in New York. They did: the Saints turned four Giants giveaways into the margin of a game in which they were outgained 461 yards to 319.
Emerson Jr. on his 2-INT day 🙌 🙌 pic.twitter.com/MUAqiEML0F
— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) October 18, 2026
The afternoon in numbers
Emerson finished with two interceptions, four pass breakups and seven tackles. His first pick came against Winston, the former Saints quarterback, with New Orleans already in front. His second came after New York had turned to McCarthy, and he nearly had a third a few minutes later.
It was not a clean day physically. Emerson broke up a pass and then collided with another player at the end of the same play, went down and left the field. Lorenzo Styles took his snaps for a short stretch before Emerson returned. New Orleans was already playing without Kool-Aid McKinstry for much of the game; head coach Kellen Moore said afterward that the young cornerback had been dealing with a migraine.
The road back
The double is a big number for Emerson. In 50 games over three seasons in Cleveland, the third-round pick from 2022 had four interceptions, all of them in 2023, when he also ranked among the league leaders with 14 passes defended. He then tore his Achilles in training camp in 2025 and did not play a snap that season before signing with New Orleans as a free agent.
His first month with the Saints included a shoulder injury against Baltimore in Week 2 and an inactive Sunday in Week 3. Sunday was the clearest sign yet that the 26-year-old from Pensacola, Florida, is back to the player who allowed no touchdowns in coverage across that 2023 season.
New Orleans had lost three in a row before Sunday and is now 2-4. The full story of the game is in our Saints-Giants recap, and the game page sits in the Game Center. Emerson’s profile is on his WhyNFL player page.
What comes next
Next up is a trip to Paris: New Orleans meets the Pittsburgh Steelers at Stade de France at 9:30 a.m. EDT on Sunday, October 25, a matchup that puts Emerson across from Aaron Rodgers, DK Metcalf and a Steelers passing game that just completed 33 passes in an overtime win at Tampa Bay.
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