WASHINGTON — Although the Redskins are 2-3 after a loss to the Falcons on Sunday, they’ve turned a corner toward becoming a good football team, says former NFL tight end Tony Gonzalez.

“They can run the football with Matt Jones, Alfred Morris, and Kirk Cousins throwing the ball, [Pierre Garcon]. They’ve got a great tight end, Jordan Reed, down there who’s making some great plays for them. So if the sky is the limit, I think, definitely, they’re going in the right direction. They turned a corner and I think they’re going to be a good football team,” Gonzalez, now a studio analyst for “The NFL Today” on CBS, told The Junkies on 106.7 The Fan.

Gonzalez says the Redskins’ run-first approach is a successful one, adding, “If you can get good quarterback play, consistent quarterback play, then you can be a successful team.”

“Obviously it’s not translating in the win column,” he said. “But they’re definitely going in the right direction because they play great defense and they can run the ball.”

Gonzalez did note Washington should release third-string Robert Griffin III and allow him the chance to jump-start his career elsewhere: “That way, that confusion, or headache or chaos that you want to call it surrounding that whole team because of him being there can get all let go, too, and really concentrate on being a good football team.”

Gonzalez believes Cousins has shown he’s a good quarterback, he just needs to continue to get repetitions so he can reach his potential, whatever that may be.

“I’ve always said usually for guys that are non-quarterbacks, it takes them right around three years to really hit your peak as a player,” he said. “And then after that, that year three to seven, eight is when — you go according to history — that’s when you really hit your good years, your max potential. But it takes three years, and I’m a perfect example of that where my first two years in the league, I was kind of figuring things out, and then third year — BAM! — I go to the Pro Bowl, and, you know, I guess the rest is my career.”

“And I look at quarterbacks, it takes them even longer,” he added. “Usually, if you look back in history, and you look at quarterbacks, it takes them to hit their peak right around at least four, five years. It takes a little bit longer, because that position is so special. It’s the hardest position in all of sports. And Kirk Cousins, the more reps you give him, the more starts you give him, the more comfortable it’s going to get.

“That’s anything you do in life. I don’t care what you are doing; the more you do it, the more comfortable you’re going to get, the more things slow down, the more you’ve seen it all, and give Kirk Cousins time because he has no choice but to get better. Now I don’t know what the max potential is — that remains to be seen — but you’ll never see how good he can be unless you give him those snaps, and let him start to get comfortable, and let that game slow down so he can go out there and show what he’s capable of doing.”

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