Derrick Rose has strained hamstring

CHICAGO -- Derrick Rose has a mild left hamstring strain and is day-to-day, Bullscoach Tom Thibodeau said after Friday's practice.

"He's feeling OK," Thibodeau said. "He's got a mild strain, he's day-to-day. He did some stuff today. We'll see where he is [Saturday] and going forward."

Rose, who was injured late in the fourth quarter of Thursday night's 100-93 win over the Toronto Raptors, did not need an MRI. Thibodeau said the point guard did some treadmill work during practice.

Rose has already missed four games this season because of sprained ankles. Thibodeau was asked if he thought those injuries may be related to Rose's latest setback.

"Anything is possible, I guess," Thibodeau said. "But I think when a guy comes back who's been out an extended amount of time, there's going to be things that crop up. He's just got to work his way through it.

"He'll be fine. It happens. Those things happen. So just keep putting one foot in front of the other, keep moving forward, and whatever the circumstances are, you deal with them."

Like Bulls center Joakim Noah did Thursday night, veteran power forward Pau Gasol defended Rose and the way he is being treated by critics. While discussing the similarities between Rose and Gasol's former Los Angeles Lakers teammate Kobe Bryant, Gasol acknowledged that he hoped frustrated fans backed off Rose for a while.

"There's so much expectation," Gasol said. "Anything that players of his status do gets so much [attention]. It's pretty much everything. It could be uncomfortable. But the good thing is he should feel comfortable with us and our team, everyone has his back here, and we want the best for him because that's going to be the best for our team. But it would be nice if people could lay off him a little bit and let him be, let him play, let him enjoy the game and compete, and not put pressure on him."

Thibodeau continues to try to take as much pressure off Rose as he can, as well.

"A player like Derrick, you got to understand that this is a lot to go through," Thibodeau said. "He's been out 2 years. We understand people want to see him out there, but we don't want him out there until he's ready to be out there. He's got to work his way through this process. There's going to be some bumps in the road. It's going to work out fine. He's going to be terrific. We all have to believe that that's what's going to happen -- and it will happen. So as long as he's putting everything he has into each and every day, that's all we want him to do."