Derrick Rose Knee Injury Update: Tom Thibodeau Comments on Star's Recovery

Chicago Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau believes point guard Derrick Rose will be ready for contact at some point next week. There's still no clear timetable for his return to game action after his latest knee injury.

K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune passed along the latest update: 

This news comes a few days after Rose said he no longer had pain in his right knee after undergoing surgery in late February. Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com provided the oft-injured guard's thoughts about his current status.

"I'm feeling good," Rose said. "I'm trying to do all the right things, put all the positives in the bag and just try to go with it. It's something that I've been doing for a long time with rehab. It's a grind—definitely a grind—but I'm getting used to it."

The Bulls currently sit in third place in the Eastern Conference with nine games remaining in the regular season. While that means they still have time to make sure Rose isn't forced back into action too soon, getting at least a few games under his belt before the playoffs is preferable.

"The Bulls have a pretty soft schedule the rest of the way, but the game to circle for a possible Rose return is April 5 in Cleveland," noted NBC Sports' Sean Highkin on March 25. "That will mark just over five weeks since the surgery, which was originally given a four-to-six-week recovery timeline, and would give Rose five additional games to play his way back into shape before the start of the playoffs." 

With Rose, it's always difficult to get beyond the cautious-optimism stage given his injury setbacks in recent years. That said, if he can put together a few healthy months, the Bulls' chances of making a deep playoff run improve greatly.