ASHBURN, Va. — Only two teams rank in the top 10 on offense and defense. One is defending AFC champion Denver, which at 6-2 is tied for the league’s third-best record and sits atop the AFC West. The other is the Washington Redskins, who at 3-6 are in the NFC East basement, as usual, on their bye week.

“When we’re 3-6, the grade can’t be very good because we’re judged on wins and losses,” said Redskins first-year coach Jay Gruden. “From a personality standpoint, from an effort standpoint, from a human being standpoint, I give them an A. I think we have a lot of good guys in our locker room, so that’s a good thing. Bad thing is we don’t get credit for being good guys. We get credit for wins and losses and that’s not good enough. So, the grade is … probably a D or an F-plus. We just have got to play better and coach better.”

It hasn’t helped that reliable nose tackle Barry Cofield has yet to play this season because of a high ankle sprain, that cornerback DeAngelo Hall and outside linebacker Brian Orakpo, each a three-time Pro Bowl pick, were lost for the year in Week 3 and Week 7, respectively, and that quarterback Robert Griffin III dislocated his left ankle early in Week 2 and didn’t return until this past Sunday.

Washington’s defense wasn’t very good in Week 3 at Philadelphia or in Week 5 against Seattle and was atrocious in Week 4 against the New York Giants but has been pretty solid otherwise, especially against Tennessee and Dallas in Weeks 7-8 before taking a big step back against the Minnesota Vikings. As expected, the secondary has been a weakness, although rookie Bashaud Breeland has played well in Hall’s absence opposite second-year man David Amerson. Veteran safeties Brandon Meriweather and Ryan Clark have mostly struggled.

The lack of a consistent pass rush — outside linebacker Ryan Kerrigan’s 7.5 sacks are almost twice as many as the total of any teammate while Orakpo had managed just half a sack — has also hurt although the Redskins actually rank better against the pass (seventh) than against the run (14th). Defensive end Jason Hatcher, a free agent signee, has four sacks but hasn’t been a true force.

“You lose your No. 1 corner in D-Hall, you lose your pass rusher, Orakpo, and you’re playing with a rookie corner (Bashaud Breeland) and (first-year starting linebacker) Keenan Robinson is the Mike and a rookie outside linebacker (Trent Murphy in place of Orakpo), there’s going to be some lumps to be had,” Gruden said. “”We’ve got to look at our scheme, but obviously against Tennessee and against Dallas, we were very good. I gave (defensive coordinator Jim) Haslett one of the game balls against Dallas. (Against Minnesota), we could’ve had better contain on the rush lanes. That’s inexcusable from the player standpoint. You can’t point your finger at one person.”

Gruden feels the same way about his offense, which despite a strong ground game at Minnesota, has been surprisingly mediocre running the ball (17th) after two superb seasons from Pro Bowl back Alfred Morris but which has also been good passing it (sixth) despite starting three quarterbacks.

“The jury is still out on that position,” said Gruden, who turned to Kirk Cousins when Griffin was hurt before going to third-stringer Colt McCoy when the Redskins were trailing the Titans at halftime and then going back to Griffin last week. “But we feel good about Robert’s progress so far and we’ve just got to … see how he does from week-to-week-to-week.”

Griffin, who followed a record-setting rookie year with a disappointing second season, remains supremely confident in his abilities but understands Gruden’s less than full-throated endorsement.

“I’ve only played two games and a quarter (for him),” Griffin explained. “I think what he’s saying is, ‘Coming into this year, everybody has got a clean slate. Everybody has got to prove why they should be here, why they should be out there and have the opportunity to make plays.’ And I haven’t been out there. Availability is the key, so my job is to continue to go out there, get better each week, help this team win football games and the rest will take care of itself. So, I don’t take that in any kind of way negatively.”

Cousins was benched after committing 11 turnovers in not quite five games while only taking eight sacks. After being sacked five times and throwing an interception against the Vikings, Griffin has two turnovers in his two-plus games but has gone down nine times.

“Sacks are a part of the game,” said Griffin, whose penchant for taking them played a large part in then-coach Mike Shanahan benching him in 2013. “You don’t want to take many of them and I will always work on that, but I’m not going to limit myself out there on the field because I think that is a detriment to our offense if I take that part of my game out. … I feel like I add an element to the game by being able to extend plays and make plays. You’ve just got to find that good balance of making those plays and not taking too many sacks.”

All the quarterbacks have benefited from the addition of deep threat DeSean Jackson, who has nine catches of at least 40 yards and easily leads the league with a 21.8-yard average. The Redskins are one of four teams with at least six players with at least 20 catches (Jackson and fellow receivers Pierre Garcon and Andre Roberts, tight ends Niles Paul and Jordan Reed and third down back Roy Helu). The other three teams, the Eagles, New Orleans and Indianapolis, all lead their divisions.

Washington’s special teams, another huge weakness in 2013, are much improved despite still-laggard coverage units. New punter Tress Way is first in the NFL with a 49.4-yard gross average and seventh with a 41.5 net. New return man Andrew Roberts is 13th in bringing back punts. And holdover Kai Forbath has converted 15 of 16 field-goal attempts for a .938 percentage that ranks fourth in the NFL.