Chicago Bulls superstar Derrick Rose seems to be ahead of schedule in his rehabilitation from a torn MCL injury; coach Tom Thibodeau has confirmed that the former MVP is already running.

Thibodeau, who is keeping the Bulls in the playoff picture despite the injury to Rose and the departure of Luol Deng via trade, said Rose is already in the next stage of his recovery.

"He's doing some running, yeah,'' coach Tom Thibodeau said Wednesday before the game against the Warriors, The Chicago Sun-Times reported. "So he's off the anti-gravity treadmill. Still on it at times, but he's full-weight now and doing lateral slides and things like that. But he's nowhere near practicing or anything like that."

Thibodeau added that Rose might be rehabilitating quickly, but he said that he is still nowhere near ready to start practicing again with the team.

"He's out for the season,'' Thibodeau said of Rose. "I don't know what else you guys want . . . and again, I think that's a step-by-step thing. He's doing great; he's out for the season. Nothing has changed there.''

Bulls general manager Gary Foreman agreed that Rose is still out for the season, even though their franchise player seems to be recovering quickly from his injury.

"We're still working on the premise that he's out for the year,'' Forman said. "Everything with his rehab is on schedule, and he's doing well. But that's the premise we're working under.''

In a report by the Sun-Times in January, Rose confirmed that his rehabilitation was indeed ahead of schedule, and that he was planning to join Team USA for the upcoming FIBA World Championship in Spain.

"Yeah, for sure,'' Rose told the Chicago Sun-Times. "If my leg is feeling healthy and I'm there, I'm all in. Of course, I want to play for that team. Playing for that team helped the year I won MVP, just getting in a groove. So I'm excited if I am able to play in it.''