ASHBURN, Va. — Robert Griffin III will return to practice next week after participating in individual drills with the Washington Redskins beginning Wednesday.

When RG3 will be back for good, coach Jay Gruden might only know after seeing the quarterback on the field.

His replacement, Kirk Cousins, has been like the proverbial girl with the curl while filling in for Washington’s oft-injured starter.

In five of the nine career games in which Cousins has played extensively, he has been very good, posting a passer rating of 102.3 with 12 touchdowns and four interceptions as Washington has gone 2-3. In the other four games, including yesterday’s, Cousins has been very bad with a passer rating of 54.6 with four touchdowns and 10 interceptions while Washington lost each contest.

Cousins, who threw four interceptions in the span of nine passes in Week 4 against the New York Giants, had three of his final 14 passes in the fourth quarter picked off by the Cardinals.

Gruden took some of the blame for a poorly designed play on the second interception, but the others showed why Cousins ranks 30th in the fourth quarter with a 67.0 passer rating — compared to his 88.3 overall mark — and is far and away the worst on third downs at 39.8.

“The first one was a poor throw; high over the middle,” explained Cousins, who did throw a touchdown pass to receiver Pierre Garcon between the second and third picks. “I got off rhythm and just felt rushed and it threw me off where I wanted to be. That one was on me. The second one, it just got congested (in the secondary). That’s kind of a bang-bang play. You’ve got to let the ball go. The third one, I was just trying to get the ball downfield and didn’t see the defender. When you do that and he’s standing there, he’s going to intercept it and take it back.”

Cousins will start Sunday, but beyond that the door is open for Griffin’s return. Gruden said Cousins was late with the throw on the second INT. But he’s being careful not to insinuate Cousins is at fault for the run of losses.

“We need more from everybody. We’re not getting enough from anybody in this,” he said. “It’s not just one guy, it’s everybody — the quarterback position, the wide receivers, the tight ends. Everybody needs to do a little more to get out of the rut. It’s not just one guy, it’s the whole squad.”