Bobby Portis issues apology to teammate for scrap with Nikola Mirotic

— -- CHICAGO -- Bobby Portis has apologized to his? Bulls?teammates for getting into a fight with Nikola Mirotic?that left his teammate with a concussion and facial fractures.

"He didn't address us today, but he did address the team before so that was taken care of," Bulls swingman Justin Holiday said after Friday's practice.

Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg acknowledged that Portis' apology took place in a team meeting but did not want to go into specific details about his message.

"I'll keep that between the team," Hoiberg said, "as far as exactly what was said in that meeting."

Portis, who has declined to speak to the media for now, practiced Friday for the first time since Tuesday's incident. He was suspended eight games because of his actions. Mirotic, who was not in the building, is expected to miss at least four weeks because of his injuries.

"It was good to have him back in here," Hoiberg said of Portis. "Obviously everybody's looking forward to getting Niko back in here as well, hopefully soon."

Holiday said Portis' demeanor on the floor hadn't changed from what he saw before the fight.

"Bobby came in today like Bobby," Holiday said. "We're not sure what he's thinking mentally and we can't assume that, but he came in when he got into practice, he worked hard like he always does, and that's important for our team right now."

Hoiberg echoed Holiday's sentiments regarding Portis' attitude.

"His spirit was good," Hoiberg said of Portis. "Right now, our job is to get the guys out there that we have and get them prepared to play different positions than they've been playing. So he didn't get a lot of reps out there today. It was really a shorter, correcting, teaching-type practice. We did get up and down a little bit. Bobby did step out there in certain drills, but we've got guys that have played positions that they haven't played the entire preseason with Paul [Zipser] and with Quincy [Pondexter], so that's the biggest thing that we have to do right now as far as preparing until we get our guys back is throwing different lineups out there and hopefully getting better with our execution."

As for Mirotic, it remains unclear when he will be on the floor again.

"I've reached out to Niko through text," Hoiberg said. "He's still sore. He's still very sore. But I think every day he'll be getting a little better."