METAIRIE, La. -- Drew Brees said "they say" six to eight weeks is the projected timetable for his recovery from thumb surgery.
"I think I can beat that," the New Orleans Saints quarterback quickly added during an interview with New Orleans' WWL radio on Wednesday night.
In the meantime, Brees said he plans to be on the sideline for Sunday night's game against the Dallas Cowboys in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome after he reluctantly had to watch the Saints beat the Seattle Seahawks from afar this past Sunday.
"It was weird watching on TV. It was really weird. I didn't really like it," said Brees, who stayed in Los Angeles following surgery because doctors said he shouldn't travel so soon. "Listen, I'm still one of the leaders of this team and a captain. I'm gonna do whatever I can to help."
Saints coach Sean Payton told the Dallas media that he knows Brees "will want an earpiece" so he can hear the playcalls and add his input.
"That's just a given," Payton said. "You know, he's a leader and someone in that position with a lot of experience. I definitely think he can be an asset."
Brees said he tore the ulnar collateral ligament "off the bone" when he hit his right throwing thumb against the hand of Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald in Week 2. And he explained that there were three ways to treat it -- two of which would have taken too long for his taste.
So he opted to have the ligament surgically repaired by Dr. Steven Shin in Los Angeles and to have an internal brace put in, "which is basically just a little piece of tape that they put on top of the ligament repair."
"It's something that immediately gives it strength and stability, [which] allows you to start rehabbing right away. You don't have to be immobilized or be in a cast," explained Brees, who said he talked to baseball star Mike Trout and basketball star Chris Paul, both of whom had similar surgeries.
"I guess nobody has ever had this type of repair on their throwing hand for an NFL quarterback. It's a common skiing injury when they put their hand down," Brees said. "So it's happened to various guys for various reasons -- and trust me, I've talked to every one of 'em to just get a feel for what the surgery is like, the rehab process and just getting back to what I need to do."