Saints QB Jake Haener played with 32 stitches in cheek after skin cancer surgery

The Saints have a quarterback competition. For the No. 2 quarterback job.

And second-year pro Jake Haener wasn’t going to let something like cancer surgery keep him from showing what he can do in a preseason game.

As noted by Jeff Duncan of the New Orleans Times-Picayune, Haener played on Saturday in Arizona after having skin cancer surgery this week. He still has 32 stitches in his right cheek; they’ll be removed on Monday.

“I get to play this game for a living,” Haener said, via Luke Johnson of the New Orleans Times-Picayune. “I’m super fortunate and I’m going to do it for as long as I can.”

After starter Derek Carr appeared in the first two drives of the game, Haener handled the next four of the first half. He completed nine of 13 passes for 107 yards, with a long of 58.

“I’m a competitive dude,” Haener said, per Johnson. “I play my ass off every step of the way, even when I’m getting hit and things are tough, I’m going to bring that energy because my team needs it, right? There needs to be that ‘X’ factor I think when you’re playing quarterback. That’s always how I’ve played and I’m not going to change.”

Rookie Spencer Rattler, who at one point was viewed as a potential No. 1 overall pick in the draft but who went to the Saints with the 150th selection, handled five drives, completing nine of 17 passes for 70 yards.

“Both of them made plays, both of them did some good stuff, both of them led two-minute drives,” coach Dennis Allen said, via Johnson. “You can never get enough of that type of situational work, and in particular for those young guys to be put in those situations, both of them responded well.”

By Week 1, it will be Haener or Rattler as the guy who will be the next man up if/when Carr is injured or, in theory, benched.

“It’s contagious,” Haener said of the competition. “You’ve just got to bring that and compete your ass off every step of the way. . . . It’s a long road and Spencer’s really talented, right? I can do some nice things as well, so I’ve just got to stay the course, keep my head on straight and go one day at a time.”

The best stories in sports are real and organic and authentic. Both of the candidates to serve as Carr’s understudy have overcome genuine instances of adversity that make their situations more compelling than the average backup quarterback back story. Haener’s was health related; Rattler’s is an example of dramatically unfulfilled potential.

One of them is going to be a step closer to playing quarterback in the NFL, within the next four weeks.