Turns out it wasn’t just a gimpy ankle that Air Force quarterback Tim Jefferson was playing on for most of last season.

Jefferson tore the meniscus in his right knee in the second quarter of the Falcons’ season opener but postponed surgery until after the season.

“It slowed me down a little bit,” Jefferson said Friday. “I wasn’t really running full speed ever since the second quarter of the first game. Other than that, midway through the season I just phased it out and learned how to play with it.”

Jefferson had a minor procedure to clean up the knee and repair the meniscus on Jan. 27. He has been rehabbing since and said Friday he has “almost gotten full range-of-motion back.”

Jefferson, who had the same injury in his other knee in high school, likely will be limited in spring practices, which start Thursday. But he said he was excited to be healthy in the fall.

“Hopefully now I’ll not have any hold backs when I’m running, and I’ll just be able to turn it loose,” he said.

See my spring preview article (on the offensive line) here and my five story lines to watch (other than the offensive line) here.