RB Montee Ball addressed attack at Wisconsin media day Sunday

Badgers RB Montee Ball addressed reporters Sunday afternoon at Wisconsin media day and made his first public comments about being attacked in the early morning hours of Aug. 1.

“I feel blessed to be able to walk away from that; obviously I walked away from that after the hospital but not upset anymore. Perfectly fine, perfectly content, and honestly just ready to forget about it,” Ball said.

Ball was jumped by five people after leaving a Madison bar and was knocked to the ground and subsequently kicked. He suffered a concussion and a bruised jaw from the attack. Police are still investigating whether Ball was targeted in a retaliatory attack.

Ball is expected to return to practice Monday, although the team will ease him back into workouts, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

“Just the time that we have here, there's really no urge to get him back out there anytime soon. We'll just kind of progress as he feels comfortable and his doctors say OK,” coach Bret Bielema said oSunday.

Ball acknowledged that he'll have to have a keener sense of awareness now that his profile has been magnified as a result of his on-field success and the assault.

“Everyone's watching to see what I do as soon as I step out of my apartment. It's a learning experience. You live and you learn, and I'm most definitely going to count my blessings and thank the Lord that I only have a bruised jaw,” he said.

Bielema told reporters that Ball, unsolicited, addressed his teammates at an “open mic” team meeting.

“It took a certain type of person to get up and pledge what he was going to do from this point forward,” Bielema said. “He said, ‘Hey, I apologize if I have been a distraction. I didn't mean it to be anything moving forward.' ”

For more Big Ten coverage, follow Mike Singer and Dave Carey @CBSSportsBigTen.