Derrick Rose played his best game of the season Monday, a clear confirmation that his high-level skills haven't left him through these past two tumultuous lost seasons. In fact, his game has matured.

Did you see that jump pass to Joakim Noah? How about that crossover and no-look dish to Pau Gasol in traffic? Or any number of drives to the rim, floaters in the lane, etc.?

Derrick Rose admits he's being very careful with his health, not only for the season but for his life after basketball. Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE/Getty Images

After scoring a season-high 24 points to go with seven assists in a season-high 32 minutes in the Chicago Bulls' win over the Detroit Pistons, Rose didn't speak to reporters. Fine enough, his game spoke for himself, especially after missing four of five games because of sprained ankles suffered in the home opener on Halloween. That one game he played, in between sitting some out, he was clearly laboring on bad wheels. In this one, he looked healthy.

And then Rose spoke Tuesday.

After noting he felt good, Rose admitted he was being careful about his body because he's worried about his body years down the road. It was a candid moment -- athletes own their bodies, like all of us -- but one that was clumsily communicated.

"I'm thinking about long term," he told reporters. "I'm thinking about after I'm done with basketball. Having graduations to go to, having meetings to go to, I don't want to be in my meetings all sore or be at my son's graduation all sore just because of something I did in the past. [I'm] just learning and being smart."

That quote sounds funny, because he's talking about mundane activities that probably wouldn't be affected by sore knees and ankles. Not to discount perfectly relatable fears about aging, he's not a linebacker worried about CTE.

And it was pilloried by some (defended by others) on Twitter and sports-talk radio. It was a good example of what several Bulls fans/bloggers refer to on Twitter as #DerrickRoseSaysStuff.

If you're going to follow Rose, as a fan or a critic, acknowledging DRSS as a fact of life is necessary.

I'll never rip an athlete for speaking his mind, and especially not for sticking up for his personhood in a world in which athletes are treated as a commodity. But it's fair to say that wasn't a good look for Rose. It probably would've been best for him just to say, "I'm saving myself for the postseason." We love that kind of talk.

I enjoy talking to Rose, in group or one-on-one settings, because I find him straight-forward and quotable. He has his cliche stock answers, but you can get some genuine moments and when you speak to him, you don't feel as if he's judging you for being a reporter, a job that ranks somewhere between divorce attorney and repo man to most professional athletes. You don't feel like he resents the fans.

But I also call Rose the "Unreliable Narrator" because sometimes, well, Derrick Rose says stuff.

Now, I'm not a big fan of ripping Rose's rhetorical slips. I say dumb things all the time. Sometimes I write dumb things and they stay on the Internet forever. Where's that column in which I said Mike Quade was a good hire as the Cubs manager?

Rose should be judged on how he plays, which is where those comments get thorny for those who misinterpret his feelings about playing. He didn't make it easy for himself here.

When a guy misses two seasons with injuries -- seasons, I should remind his critics, that required surgery and long rehabilitation -- there isn't much patience for those types of innocuous comments.

You end up causing sportswriters and fans to bring up your salary and what you "owe" to the Bulls. Of course, the "max salary" designation is just a cost-control measure instituted by NBA owners that, in many cases, is a bargain. In any event, Rose is paid a market value. But he does owe a market effort for that money. It's safe to say that when Rose is on the floor, he's giving you that kind of effort. He knows one way to play.

I can't claim to know what's going on in Rose's head, but I've covered him for enough time to know he isn't going to take games off because he's worried about his health. He won't stop driving to the hoop, or pushing the ball. He can't. That's who he is. He showed that Monday night.

Just remember, playing through a moderate to serious ankle injury in November isn't a badge of courage. He should be smart about his health, both for long-term concerns and playoff viability. Rose should be careful about existing injuries and concurrently, not treating his body as a short-term rental, but he has to be able to play through the kind of pain that one is expected to overcome. He has to walk a fine line here, because he isn't playing basketball as an artistic endeavor, even if it looks like art sometimes.

Until Rose makes it through a whole season -- or really whole seasons -- and until he leads the Bulls on a deep playoff run, this resentment of him will bubble under the surface. The past is prologue and all that. Rose knows this, but he will continue to say stuff that will make you mad. He's human, after all.

Personally, I think Rose's game speaks for himself and, for me, that's enough. I just hope to see that game this Thursday night and beyond.