Rose does light contact work, may appear in Bulls' preseason finale

There's still no indication of whether Derrick Rose will be in uniform or street clothes when the Chicago Bulls open their season five days hence, but Thursday brought word of encouraging progress ahead of the team's preseason finale on Friday.

Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg, who has remained noncommittal on Rose's availability for the opener, said Rose did some light contact work Thursday - the first time he's done so since fracturing his left orbital bone in practice on Sept. 29. Hoiberg added that there's a small chance Rose will play five-to-10 minutes on Friday, though there are concerns about his vision.

Rose admits he's still seeing double, nearly a month after suffering the injury, and his eye remains noticeably swollen.

A week ago, Rose himself sounded dubious about the prospect of his playing in the regular-season opener, let alone a preseason game.

"I can't open my (left) eye," he said. "That's when I get double vision."

The good news is Rose seems to be adapting well to wearing a face mask, and said he feels more confident after surviving a blow to the face in practice Thursday. He's optimistic he'll be able to play Friday, even if he's still got some double vision.

Rose may be happy where his conditioning is at, but figuring out which of two hoops to shoot at could prove to be an adventure.