The fierce competitor with long legs and maddening reach, of course, was a former Ohio State quarterback whom Browns Coach Hue Jackson was converting to an NFL wide receiver. Now that Pryor is on the Redskins’ roster via free agency, as part of the team’s solution to the 2,000 receiving yards they lost with the departure of DeSean Jackson and Pierre Garcon, Gruden relishes the prospect of scheming plays and roles for quarterback Kirk Cousins’s towering new target.

One role Gruden doesn’t envision, however, is a return to quarterback.

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“I don’t think so,” Gruden said this week at the NFL owners meeting, asked if he pictured using Pryor at his former position. “We might, but I think he really wants to hone in on the receiver position. He obviously can let it rip a little bit; we’ll see. We’ll see what he wants to do, see how much we want to expand. We got a pretty good quarterback right now. I think to take Kirk out and put another guy in is kind of silly. … [Pryor is] a great athlete. I’ve got to figure out ways to utilize him.”

Pryor and Cousins are already at work honing their rapport, in fact, under the supervision of Gruden’s elder brother Jon, who works with NFL players in the offseason. Also part of the throwing sessions are Redskins wide receivers Jamison Crowder and Josh Doctson, whose rookie season was sharply limited (two catches, two games) by Achilles ailments.

NFL rules prevent Jay Gruden from working with players during the offseason; he can’t even consult with or get updates from his brother about how his players are faring. But he’s thrilled to know they’re at work, on their own time, doing what they can to learn one another’s tendencies before minicamp gets underway.

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Pryor totaled 1,007 receiving yards in his first year at wide receiver, Gruden noted, crediting (Browns Coach) Jackson’s teaching skill and Pryor’s athleticism and smarts. What impresses him most about Pryor is his eagerness to improve at his new position.

“He has a strong desire to become great,” Gruden said. “You can argue that he already had one great year, [but] to be a great player in this league, it’s gotta be consistent year in and year out. … He’s got the height, he’s got the speed, so now we just gotta keep working with him.”

As Gruden explains, that means working at routes until the footwork becomes instinctive, working with Cousins until they can share the same thinking.

“Sometimes, receivers, when they first start playing receiver, they count steps: They’re like, ‘Okay, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.’ Then it becomes natural, and you can start looking at a defender and give them a little wiggle at the top of your break. Or maybe it’s coming out of a comeback route, or a short Puma route that we call it, or curl route, coming back to your quarterback, instead of maybe waiting for the ball to come to you where the defender can knock it down.”

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No doubt, compensating for the loss of Jackson and Garcon is a tall order, Gruden conceded. “DeSean is the fastest receiver in the game and one of the biggest play receivers of all time, quite frankly,” Gruden said. “Pierre — the toughness he has, consistency he has, his work ethic, the balls he catches and the runs after catch — it’ll be hard to top.”