After he sprained his left ankle in a mid-October preseason game against Chicago, Deron Williams was told he'd be sidelined for at least two weeks.

Two-and-a-half weeks after that prognosis — and a day after his MRIs were reevaluated and a doctor's second opinion prescribed a longer "four-to-six weeks" return timetable — Williams jokingly said the Jazz's medical staff might have intentionally told him a best-case scenario.

"They just said two weeks because they knew I didn't want to hear four-to-six weeks," he said after team shootaround Friday morning. "Dr. (Lyle) Mason knows me. Now I wish they would have, so I wouldn't have got my hopes up."

Williams' hopes still are up for an earlier-than-anticipated return - based on the new time frame, at least.

"I'm ahead of schedule," he said.

Not far enough ahead to join the Jazz quite yet, though.

The point guard wants to participate in a full practice, scrimmage included, before playing for the first time. But because that isn't going to happen before Utah visits New York, Williams said "it's not looking like I'll play Sunday."

The Jazz continue their five-game road trip with a pair of back-to-back sets — Tuesday/Wednesday at Philadelphia/Washington and Friday/Saturday at Charlotte/Cleveland.

He threw out the idea of pulling a "Matt Harpring" and playing "one of them" — something Williams' teammate occasionally did last year while recuperating from knee surgery.

Depending on how he feels and progresses, of course.

"I'm feeling better, a little bit of pain (and) discomfort when I do certain things, spin moves, things of that nature that I'd probably do if I got into a game situation," he said. "So I wouldn't want to put myself into that position to again be hurt."

It helps him be patient, Williams said, because the Jazz are off to a quick start and have what he considers "a couple of winnable ballgames without me."

KOUFOS FAN: His only rookie hasn't played a whole lot of minutes this season, but that doesn't mean Jazz coach Jerry Sloan isn't impressed by Kosta Koufos.

Quite the opposite.

After shootaround Friday, the 21st-year Utah coach had nothing but compliments for the 19-year-old from Ohio State, who was born after Sloan got his head coaching job with Utah in 1988.

"It's fun to watch him," Sloan said. "He's come in here and he's been really refreshing. He knows he's got a long ways to go, but how hard he's worked, he's really been impressive."