A concerning bandage covered part of a New Orleans Saints quarterback’s face at Friday’s practice. The diagnosis of skin cancer complicates things as the Saints begin training camp this month. The preseason now includes a conflict on figuring out how to balance one’s health and a drive to make the team for the 2024 season.
The New Orleans Saints have a battle for QB2
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The Saints’ 2023 fourth-round pick, Jake Haener, currently holds the QB2 job. Haener was suspended by the league for the first six weeks of his rookie season due to a PED violation. He was not credited with any stats for last year.
Jake Haener has skin cancer
Haener has another, more serious complication to start this preseason. According to a transcript via Sports Illustrated of his comments to reporters on Friday, Haener has skin cancer.
“I actually have a rare form of skin cancer,” Haener said. “So for my age, it’s kind of rare that that it pops up like that. So I’m trying to get that evaluated with our training staff. I have a consultation with doctors on August 1st, on our off day, to try to figure out how long I can wait because I have to get a different procedure done on my face. So we’re just kind of trying to take the necessary steps in order to see how long I could wait till, you know, I have to get that procedure done.”
Haener’s family was worried about the cancer
Haener did not specify what type of skin cancer he has. He said it’s rare for a person his age (25) to be diagnosed with the cancer.
“It’s kind of something that just popped up, and I was kind of worried about it,” Haener said. “My family was kind of worried about it. It was just this random, odd-looking bump that kept growing. For me, it was something that I don’t see a lot of.
“I don’t have a lot of acne like that, and it popped up and we knew to go to dermatologists. They removed it. They did a biopsy on it and came back last week right before camp that it was just kind of a rare form of skin cancer for my age, like I said.”
Hopefully, Haener can undergo the procedure to cure his cancer without missing much of the preseason. Of course, some things are more important than a roster spot.
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