ASHBURN, Va. — Tied for the second-worst record in the NFC at 3-6 for the fourth consecutive season, the Washington Redskins returned to work Monday following their bye week.

While many fans may already be focused on next spring’s NFL Draft for the next point of excitement, the Redskins players are citing historical precedent for a potential playoff run.

Two years ago, Washington also had a Week 10 bye before winning its final seven games and its only NFC East title of the millennium.

“I think a lot of guys that are in this locker room that were here in 2012 looked to that season as our blueprint for what we want to be able to do,” said third-year quarterback Robert Griffin III. “It starts with one game. It starts with one guy making a play. (Receiver) Santana (Moss) made a play in (Week 11 of) 2012 against the Eagles down the middle of the field when I threw into double coverage. … So I think everybody’s looking to that for us to get out there and be that guy makes that play.

“It doesn’t always have to be the guys that everybody thinks are going to make the play. It could be the guy that no one thinks is going to make a play and he does and it sparks the team.”

That never happened last season. The Redskins had a Week 5 bye and when they fell to 3-6 with a loss at Minnesota, as was the case this year, they couldn’t stop losing en route to a 3-13 finish, their worst in 19 years.

“Obviously, we had other things going on last year,” Griffin said alluding to being benched by then-coach Mike Shanahan for the final three games, capping an ugly year during which the quarterback never was on the same page with the coach or with offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan.

However, third-down back Roy Helu didn’t blame Griffin’s relationship with the coaches.

“We had an early bye week (after a 1-3 start) and games just kept piling on, piling on, piling on and we went on a landslide downhill,” Helu said. “This year, we (got) a nice little break. We’re just going to play it out and see what happens. We’re still hopeful in the locker room.”

Griffin, who only played in three of this year’s first nine games, is certainly optimistic, not just about the rest of this season, but about the Redskins’ future under first-year coach Jay Gruden.

“We want to be an organization that consistently wins and we’re going to figure that out,” said Griffin, the face of a franchise that has recorded just three winning seasons since 1999. “I know not many people might not believe that. … They might not believe we might not have the leadership on this team to be successful. But we do.”

Gruden, the offensive coordinator for playoff teams in Cincinnati the past three seasons, knows that his team is all but out of the NFC East with the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys way out in front.

However, the coach maintained, “We still have a lot to play for. Whether it’s for the playoffs, whether it’s for the Super Bowl, whatever, we’re playing for the Washington Redskins and the city and we’re going to go out and compete and we’re going to go out fighting.”

The NFC has five teams that are 3-6. Tampa Bay, St. Louis and Chicago have all been outscored by at least 83 points. Atlanta (19) and Washington (32) have much closer points for/points against ratios.

“If you go back and look at the six losses, there’s a play here, a play there that we’re just so close to being 7-2 instead of 3-6,” Gruden lamented. “You can see we have the makings of a good football team. The lack of consistency is frustrating.”

–Gruden said he expects to decide by Wednesday whether to activate Barry Cofield from the short-term injured reserve list where the usual starting nose tackle has been all season with an ailing foot. Chris Baker has been starting in Cofield’s place and could move back to end, replacing the underwhelming Jarvis Jenkins if Cofield is activated.

“He’s a good player,” Gruden said of Cofield, a linchpin of the defense from 2011-13. “To add another big body (6-feet-4, 303 pounds) to the mix can’t hurt, especially one of his abilities. When he was playing for us (in preseason), I don’t think he quite was 100 percent. (Now) we feel like he’s close to 100 percent.”

— RB Silas Redd was inactive in Week 9 at Minnesota after suffering back spasms in the pre-game bus crash but should be ready to face Tampa Bay.

— TE Logan Paulsen suffered plantar fasciitis against the Vikings but hasn’t been ruled out of the game with the Buccaneers.