The Sports Xchange

METARIE, La. — The New Orleans Saints may be winless, but they’re certainly not hopeless.

As one of only four NFL teams without a taste of victory this season, the Saints (0-3) need a win in the worst way this week to wrap up the first quarter of the season — if only to calm the choppy waters a little.

If the Saints do break into the win column, quarterback Drew Brees wants to be the one to get them there.

While backup Luke McCown did an admirable job in a 27-22 loss to the Carolina Panthers last week, Brees hopes to be back on the field Sunday night for their key game with the Dallas Cowboys (2-1) in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

Brees sat out last week’s game with a bruised rotator cuff in his throwing shoulder, but was able to throw some in Tuesday and Wednesday’s practices and said he wants to be on the field this Sunday after missing the first game because of injury in his 10-year career with the Saints.

After being examined again Monday by orthopedist Dr. James Andrews, Brees was encouraged by what he was able to do and could return for the matchup with the Cowboys — if he continues improving.

“I took most of the reps,” Brees said after Wednesday’s practice. “Felt good, good enough to do that, so we’ll just continue to ramp up with volume and intensity as the week goes on.”

Meanwhile, Brees made some off-field moves to helped clear up some salary cap space. He converted part of his base salary for this season into a signing bonus.

By restructuring his five-year deal, which is set to expire after the 2016 season, the Saints picked up $2.6 million in cap space for this season. It also boosts the cap hit for Brees to $30 million — the highest in the league.

Brees’ base salary for next season was previously $18.75 million, but that dropped to $12.435 million, according to NFLPA figures. The bonus allowed the Saints to spread that portion of the salary over this year and next in the form of the signing bonus.

If Brees were to be released or traded during the off-season, he would count as $10 million in dead money against the cap because $20 million in base salary and workout bonuses would clear from the cap.

Moving from finances to football. . .

Brees said since suffering the injury in a loss to the Tampa Bay Bucs on Sept. 20 that he wouldn’t have trouble dealing with the pain. He said the bigger concern was a lack of arm strength, which was why he decided last Friday to sit out the Panthers game.

He didn’t say whether the velocity was back and how much he was able to throw down the field Wednesday.

“I was going to temper my enthusiasm with some of the stuff,” he said. “Just be smart, and just make sure it’s one of these ramp-ups, and it’s not zero to 60.”

Brees said he’ll try to practice again Thursday and Friday and then make a decision by then to ensure that McCown, who was 31-of-38 for 310 yards in his first start in four seasons against the Panthers, gets enough first-team snaps to be sufficiently prepared in case he’s called on again.

“I wouldn’t do that,” Brees said of being a game-time decision. “I feel really good about Sunday. That’s four days away. I feel like I’ll just continue to make progress, and I’ll go from there.”

“He needs to be healthy, and we’ll play him,” coach Sean Payton said. “If he’s not (healthy), we won’t (play him). Especially at his position, it’s not where ‘he’s going to play, but he’s only 80 percent.’ That’s something we would never do, regardless of how the No. 2 or No. 3 are playing.”

SERIES HISTORY: 28th regular-season meeting. Cowboys lead series, 16-11. The Saints had claimed eight of the previous nine matchups between the teams before the Cowboys thrashed the Saints 38-17 in AT&T Stadium last Sept. 28. The last time they played in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, the Saints notched a resounding 49-17 blowout, complete with an NFL-record 40 first downs, for their fourth win in the Cowboys’ last five visits to New Orleans.

GAME PLAN

–No matter who starts at quarterback, Drew Brees or Luke McCown, the Saints will have to run the ball effectively to have any chance at winning. Even though the Cowboys rank 10th in allowing 88.0 yards per game, the Saints will have to be more productive than they have been in the first three outings when they gained 76.0 yards per game on the ground. While it would seem to be more inviting to throw the ball on the Cowboys, who are 13th in giving up 229.7 yards per game, Brees may not have regained enough arm strength to put it up as many times as he would like. C.J. Spiller, who is getting stronger after having his knee scoped in mid-August, should get more carries and his speed could give the Saints an added dimension to go with Mark Ingram and Khiry Robinson.

Defensively, the Saints rank 22nd against the pass and 26th against the run, but the bigger problem has been through the air — mainly because they haven’t generated much of a pass rush with just four sacks in three games. They also haven’t been up to snuff in the back end, perhaps partly because of a lack of pressure up front, and have no interceptions so far. Facing Brandon Weeden instead of Tony Romo and not having to go against wide receiver Dez Bryant could actually give the Saints an edge. Perhaps having cornerback Keenan Lewis and maybe free safety Jairus Byrd on the field for the first time this season should help as well if they can get after Weeden, who threw one interception and was sacked twice in his first start last week.