The Facts: When the Jaguars pursued Thompson in free agency last month, he did not need much convincing about their offense being a good fit for his skill set. He knew from the way Jaguars OC Jay Gruden utilized him when they were paired together with the Redskins that he is likely to be featured as a third-down back again. “He is one of the biggest reasons I was able to have the success that I had in Washington and to be able to stick around there,” Thompson said. “Me coming here to Jacksonville, being familiar with his offense, it is good for me.”

Diehards Line: Thompson played for Gruden when he was the head coach of the Redskins from 2014 through last season before he was fired after a 0-5 start. A fifth-round pick by the Redskins in 2013 out of Florida State, Thompson emerged as a dual-threat under Gruden. Thompson totaled 1,194 yards rushing and caught 212 passes for 1,772 yards and 10 touchdowns in seven seasons with Washington. In Jacksonville, Thompson, 5-foot-8, 195 pounds, expects to complement Leonard Fournette as a receiving threat out of the backfield. Fournette, who is in the final year of his contract, made a team-high 76 catches for 522 yards last season. However, Fournette averaged just 6.9 yards a catch and did not make a touchdown catch. Since HC Doug Marrone hired Gruden in January as coordinator, he has worked behind the scenes to implement his offensive system and get a few players on board he has previously coached to help make the transition smoother, including former Bengals TE Tyler Eifert. With no chance of on-field work, QB Gardner Minshew and others are taking advantage of having both Thompson and Eifert around in the virtual meetings to learn some of the intricacies of Gruden’s offense as they try to turn things around after ranking 26th in scoring (18.6 average) and 31st in red-zone scoring percentage for touchdowns (40.43) last season. “He [Gruden] wants to put guys all over the place,” Thompson said. “For him, the more playmakers, the better he’s going to spread the ball around. There’s not going to be one guy who is going to be the full focus of the offense.”