WASHINGTON — Since the Redskins’ fourth loss of the season on Sunday, the last few days could be interpreted as a referendum on the state of the franchise under the caretaking of Kirk Cousins.

Plenty of fans are ready to press the proverbial ‘panic button’ with the Redskins in sole possession of last place in the up-for-grabs NFC East. This “panic” may have been legitimized by Coach Jay Gruden, who said — shortly after losing to the Jets — the Redskins had entered “code red.”

[Brewer: Cousins Facing Must-Win Game, Sort of]

By Monday morning, Redskins optimist Joe Theismann was asked what Gruden should do at the quarterback position.

“I think you stay the same,” he said. “You stay the course. I mean that’s part of the problem that we’ve had I think in recent years is just the continuing changing of quarterbacks. When things go bad, all of a sudden you want a change.”

“The problems with the Redskins are not solved like a light switch, where you flip it on and flip it off. I think Scot [McCloughan] has done a terrific job laying a foundation of what he wants; I think Jay has made great improvements in the way he wants to coach this football team. But, from one week to the next, everybody wants a change and I just don’t agree with it.”

[Simms: Time to Bench Cousins for McCoy]

This thought of the Redskins trending upward, despite their 2-4 record, was a topic on “Grant and Danny” Tuesday.

“Before the season started, what record did you say the Redskins would have at season’s end?” Host Grant Paulsen asked.

“6-10,” co-host Danny Rouhier answered.

“Okay. So did I, “Paulsen said. “And the other thing I said was: I think if a couple things bounce right, they could go 7-9. If a couple things went well, what did you think best-case scenario was for them?”

“Was right there, 7-9,” Rouhier said. “Maybe 8-8 if you get incredibly lucky, but I thought that’s what their ceiling was.”

“Let’s just say they win on Sunday, which they are favored to do,” Paulsen said. “That’s not me saying they’re going to beat New England, that’s me saying they’re going to beat a pretty mediocre Bucs team with a rookie quarterback who makes mistakes. They’ll be at that point 3-4. That means that they’re not only on pace for the 6-10 season that you and I said that they should have this year, but that they are actually on pace for 6.8 wins. Mess around and get a seventh win.

“That’s kind of what we said would be ideal in [year two] under Jay Gruden. After two seasons where they went 7-25, if they win on Sunday, they would be on pace to essentially go 7-9 this year. Now, I understand that that’s not exciting … what I am saying is the pace would then be at, or exceeding that, of most of the people who were realistic predicting the Redskins at the start of the year.

“Why does nobody seem to care about that? Why do we always lose perspective here? We’re talking about doom and gloom and how terrible everything is. They are, if they win on Sunday, not only where they’re supposed to be, maybe a game better than a lot of people thought they would be. There were some outlets saying they’d go 2-14.”

[Snider: Is Cousins Down to His Last Chance?]

During a difficult week, perhaps a larger perspective on where the Redskins are headed, as opposed to where they are, should be the real focus with a new GM and QB at the helm.

Follow @ChrisLingebach and @1067TheFanDC on Twitter.