After dropping three-straight to enter the team's bye week, much of the media speculation surrounding the Redskins is focused on 2013.
The players in the locker room agreed with the sentiment, but were focused on January 2013, not September.
With both the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys sitting at 3-5 this week, Redskins cornerback Josh Wilson balked at the notion that the Redskins were dead in the water.
"No, I think we always have a chance," he said. "We go on a streak, win these last games and go 10 and 6, we should do alright."
The Redskins have entered the toughest stretch of the schedule, playing five division games, two division leaders and two primetime matchups, including the New York Giants on Monday Night Football.
Wilson said the team needs to focus on playing fundamentally sound football down the stretch, especially on defense in the fourth quarter.
"It's definitely disappointing to not have completed games out there, and just go out there and completely dominate teams," he said. "I wish we were at that point right now."
Redskins nose tackle Barry Cofield had high expectations for the defense coming into the season, but did not question the mentality of the unit.
Execution is one thing, but Cofield strongly believes this group has what it takes to turn it around.
"We just haven't played well enough. Question the mentality and things like that; I'm not going to do that yet," he explained. "I think we have the leadership, and the young guys are hungry enough that we're not going to lose our way.
"We're going to keep fighting and I think we'll pull some games up."
As a seven-year veteran, Cofield understands the assessment process during the bye week, and said he expects the coaching staff to evaluate every avenue to improve the team.
"I never thought that [evaluation] process ever stopped," he said. "I've been in this league long enough to know that you should never feel comfortable, especially going into a bye, you know a lot of changes have a tendency to be made during that time.
"If anybody was feeling comfortable, you know, we never had a lead in division, we were never that hot, we never had a win streak going, so to think that guys are feeling really comfortable and good about themselves, I'm not sure why that would be the case."
Cofield called on his teammates to use the bye week to recharge and gain new perspective, with the playoffs still in reach.
"I didn't think that we would stumble into the bye like this," he said. "But we have a week to get away, to really dig deep and find something, some personal, professional pride.
"I hope the guys will come out and play their best football down the stretch."
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