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Derrick Rose takes full contact in Chicago Bulls practice, return remains on track

By Patrick Schmidt

Feb 20, 2015; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose (1) brings the ball up court against the Detroit Pistons during the first quarter at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 20, 2015; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose (1) brings the ball up court against the Detroit Pistons during the first quarter at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports /
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Derrick Rose returned to practice on Monday and took contact for the first time since undergoing knee surgery.

The Chicago Bulls welcomed back Derrick Rose to practice on Monday where the former NBA MVP took part in contact drills for the first time since undergoing knee surgery on his meniscus, according to K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune.

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Rose, the Bulls and their fans have gone through this before as Rose has suffered through a myriad of knee injuries in the last three years, but this is a sure sign that Rose remains on track to return to the court before the playoffs start in the middle of April.

It is difficult to be overly enthused and counting down the days until Rose dons his No. 1 jersey and is back leading the Bulls on the court and not in street clothes and cheering on his teammates from the bench or a luxury suite.

Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau was pleased with the workout that consisted of two, full-court 10-minute scrimmages of four-on-four competition.

Overall, Thibodeau thought it was an aggressive workout but admits he needs to get his wind back and get his conditioning levels back to where he can play 30-plus minutes a night.

That will come with more practice and the more contact he takes in practice, the more comfortable Rose will be as he attempts to return after having a small part of his right meniscus removed. Rose had a repair of the same meniscus last year after only playing in 10 games and was lost for the rest of the season.

The Bulls have eight regular season games remaining and hold the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference and a potential matchup with the Milwaukee Bucks awaits. The Bulls are 9-8 since Rose went down with the knee injury, but they also played without All-Star Jimmy Butler for some of those games, but Joakim Noah knows just how much his presence means to this team and their championship aspirations.

Rose is averaging 18.4 points, five assists and 3.1 rebounds in 48 games this season while shooting 40.7 percent from the field. Aaron Brooks replaced him in the starting lineup and he’s averaged 14.8 points, 4.6 assists and 2.5 rebounds on 40. 2 percent shooting in the 17 games Rose has missed with the knee injury.

As Rose continues to take steps in his rehab and get closer to the court, the one question everyone wants to know is when he’ll return, because Bulls fans have grown tired of playing the waiting game with Rose.

Johnson estimates the return will be between April 8-11.

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