Air Force freshman quarterback Tim Jefferson participated in his first spring practice today after missing the Falcons’ first four sessions to concentrate on academics.

I spoke to both Jefferson and Air Force coach Troy Calhoun via phone this afternoon. An article I wrote about Jefferson’s return can be found here.

Some other notes on Jefferson and other subjects that did not appear in the article.

-Jefferson said he was “surprised” that freshman tailback Asher Clark had been moved to quarterback, but “it’s always healthy for a team to have competition at a position like quarterback.

“It will only be good for the team because, if anything, it will make us better players. And it never hurts to have two options to go to if you need another.”

Jefferson and Clark are workout partners in the weight room and friends off the field. Jefferson said their relationship has not changed.

“I don’t really think about it that much off the field,” he said. “I guess that’s just one of those sports things where you’re in the heat of battle on the field, but off the field go back to living your daily life.”

-Freshman Connor Dietz and sophomore Ben Cochran ran most of the plays at quarterback on Saturday. “What we wanted to do today is get a bunch of guys that hadn’t played a whole lot of live snaps in Falcon Stadium a bunch of snaps with the coaches off the field,” said Calhoun, who estimated his team got in approximately 150 plays from scrimmage.

-Asked who stood out during Saturday’s practice, Calhoun mentioned a pair of freshmen who played on the Falcons’ junior varsity last fall – 6-foot, 175-pound cornerback Josh Hall and 6-5, 235-pound defensive end Ben Kopacka. Calhoun said both made plays but noted Kopacka, a converted tight end, is “still extremely raw at that position.”

-Weather permitting, Air Force will practice on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of the upcoming week (tentatively in the afternoon from 3:30 to 5:30). Players then will be off until the following Monday for leadership training.

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