COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Browns are lucky that Hue Jackson didn't convince Terrelle Pryor to make the switch from quarterback to receiver until after he cut him last year as a quarterback for the Bengals.

Because if Jackson, the Bengals' offensive coordinator, had had the gumption to suggest it a little earlier, he might be gearing up to face the big, rangy deep threat this season as a member of the Bengals instead of unleashing him on his AFC North foes as multi-purpose weapon for the Browns.

"I'll never forget last year when he was with me in Cincinnati for a little while and wanted to be a quarterback,'' Jackson said Saturday after the Orange and Brown scrimmage at Ohio Stadium, where the former Ohio State quarterback stole the show. "I didn't have enough confidence to ask him to change positions at that time, and that's why we let him go to be honest with you -- because I felt like he needed to make a decision about what he needed to do.''

After the Bengals waived Pryor on June 18, 2015 following five weeks with the team as a quarterback, Jackson reached out to his lifelong close friend Craig Austin, who became like a father-figure to Pryor.

"I said 'tell him that maybe he needs to play receiver and do it full-time,''' said Jackson. "He made that decision, and he has never looked back. I think we see the fruit of his hard work. That's what it is. He's worked extremely hard and that's what you see."

Jackson had drafted Pryor along with Al Davis in 2011 supplemental draft when he was head coach of the Raiders in 2011. Pryor played quarterback for Jackson there, but took only one snap as a rookie after serving a five-game suspension for his NCAA memorabilia violations.

But the two grew close enough in Oakland that Pryor knew Jackson had his back on the receiver suggestion.

"We had talks, me, Hue and Craig Austin,'' said Pryor. "That's one of his best friends. He was like a surrogate father/mentor. We all had a decision and talked and came to a conclusion. That type of deal."

Oddly enough, it wasn't the Bengals who gave him his first shot at wideout, but the Browns.

They claimed Pryor on waivers on June 22nd, just days after he made the switch. But after suffering a pulled hamstring early on in training camp, he wasn't able to show just what a natural he was at the position. The Browns cut him shortly after he made the 53-man roster, and he went back to working hard at his new craft.

Fortunately for them, they snatched him up again on Dec. 2nd, and he provided a sneak preview of what's to come when he caught a 42-yard pass in the season finale against the Steelers.

Now, he's become a bona fide deep threat and multi-purpose weapon on offense and special teams.

In the Orange and Brown scrimmage at Ohio Stadium, he owned the day, catching two touchdown passes, including a 5-yarder over K'Waun Williams from Robert Griffin III in the back of the end zone and a 75-yarder on a go-route from Josh McCown to end the practice. After the long one, he started OH-IO and some in the crowd of 42,310 at Ohio Stadium chimed in.

On the opening field goal drive alone, he caught three passes for about 45 yards.

"He's done a tremendous job,'' said Jackson. "There are a lot of guys that I can say that about, but he's definitely one. He has taken this opportunity and he is trying to make the most of it. Remember, I drafted him with (late Raiders Owner) Al Davis when he came out to Oakland. He couldn't do any football for six weeks, and he wanted to be a quarterback. That is what really believed he was.''

Pryor rocked the 'Shoe on a day when No. 15 overall pick Corey Coleman was sidelined by a tweaked hamstring from his big scrimmage Friday night in Berea. Andrew Hawkins was also sidelined with a hamstring and Josh Gordon (quad) still isn't practicing yet.

But Jackson insisted Pryor's big outing back home where the former Rose Bowl MVP starred as a dual-threat quarterback wasn't staged.

"We didn't set it up that way,'' said Jackson. "Obviously, that's the way it's going to be for our football team. One day, it might be Corey, another day it, might be Terrelle and the next day it might be Hawk. It could be a lot of different people, and that's the fun part about our offensive football team. We have some guys that can make some plays."

The 6-4 guy towering over 5-9 Williams in the back of the end zone was not lost on Griffin.

"He's a big guy, physical,'' said Griffin. "He's got an elite trait that you can't coach, and that's size. He's been able to utilize that while he's been in camp and in the spring. We love the progress that he's made. I know Terrelle was excited to come back. You see he finished it off the right way, and he played really well today."

Pryor, used in creative ways by Jackson, also threw a pass here for old times' sake, but missed deep down the sideline to Marlon Moore. Still, it's a sign of things to come that Jackson is willing to let him throw.

"Yeah, it was cool,'' he said. "It is a little different. You have to work on throwing deep down the field with a glove on. It's a little different because if you take your glove off and the defense sees that, guys are pretty sharp out there. It's something that I have got to continue to work on and try to master. We have a couple weeks now. I'll just keep on working and grinding at that."

Pryor acknowledged that his 2015 season was derailed by the pull hamstring so shortly after switching positions.

"I wasn't ready to run like that,'' Pryor said. "I just came over from being a quarterback my whole life pretty much. Now that I'm back, I'm running a lot. I had an offseason to run. I went through the whole system through the offseason, OTAs and stuff like that. I was able to really catch on with how we (receivers) run and how much we run. Before I was like a bear, but now, it's a gazelle."

And fortunately for the Browns, not like a Bengal.