He was only airborne for seconds, but in that brief period Friday, a flurry of thoughts flashed through the mind of University of Hawaii slotback John Ursua.

Amid a tangle of arms and legs with defensive back Akil Francisco going for a pass in a seven-on-seven drill, Ursua wondered if he might have overextended himself and be asking too much too soon of his surgically repaired right knee in the first practice session of training camp.

By the time his feet landed solidly back on the Cooke Field grass, Ursua and the Rainbow Warriors had their answer.

“I was like, ‘OK, we’re back!’” Ursua said triumphantly.

If a pain-free Urusa was relieved, the ’Bows had plenty of reason to be also.

Their leading returning receiver, somebody who had been among the nation’s leaders in catches (47) and yards (667) and amassed five touchdowns at the halfway point of the 2017 season before tearing a ligament in his right knee, was coming along just fine.

Later he signalled to coach Nick Rolovich that he needed to catch a breather between series, but other than some conditioning, Ursua looked like he belonged back on the field.

“I won’t lie to you, I need to get some more cardio (exercise),” Ursua said, a face-mask-wide grin crossing his features. “I did a lot of leg presses and bench presses, but now, I’ll hit the treadmill a lot more now. But it felt great to be out there again with my team.”

Anybody who had occasion to glimpse Ursua in spring practice pacing the sidelines like a caged tiger while teammates practiced understood that getting back on the field was Job One to the redshirt junior.

“I was so excited to be out here today,” Ursua said.”I went to bed about 10 p.m., but it wasn’t ’til about midnight that I was finally able to get to sleep. I was looking forward to getting back out here again and competing. I wish it (the season) was starting live right now.”

Getting back on the field has been a steadfast, eight-month-long mission for Ursua, who went down, untouched, after making a cut in the second quarter against San Jose State. “I heard a ‘pop’ and that was it,” Ursua said. “Right away I thought it was trouble, because I remember watching my brother when he got his (ACL tear).”

He used the experience of his brother and others to help propel him through the rehabilitation that followed surgery. “You know that most people come back from it, but in the back of your mind, there’s still a thought like, ‘What if?’ Well, I didn’t want that to be me, so I was determined to work as hard as I could to come back. And I’m grateful for my coaches and teammates being behind me, the doctors and (assistant athletic trainer Jayson) Goo, everybody that has helped get me to this point.”

Rolovich said, “We’re going to watch him and not let him push himself too much. He looked good. He just needs to ease back into it.” Said Ursua, “I know I have to be more cautious, sometimes, out there.”

The return of Ursua comes with a new look, a dyed patch of hair and slight tail. “I went back to the look I had in high school for a while because I feel young again,” Ursua said.

“I’m a 24-year-old (redshirt) junior, which is kind of old on this team, but I feel like, with this season, I’m starting over again.”

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.