There may just be a light at the end of the tunnel for Kyrie Irving.

On Thursday, Irving participated in his first full practice with the Nets since sustaining a shoulder impingement that has sidelined him since Nov. 14. He was cleared for contact, played five-on-five for the first time in nearly two months and hopes to be reevaluated in about a week to have a better understanding of his next steps.

Less than a week ago, Irving spoke publicly for the first time about his injury, expressing his frustrations and even raising the possibility of needing arthroscopic surgery. But following Thursday’s practice, he was much livelier and more optimistic, speaking candidly about the reality of his injury.

“No [limitations] right now, other than just keeping my shoulder-maintenance program going before I get on the floor,” Irving said. “That’s the thing that I have to keep consistent throughout the season and probably for the rest of my career, so that’s probably the only thing that’s been in addition to getting ready to play.”

He said he has been doing his best not to think about the possibility of surgery, and that getting healthy is the only thing on his mind.

After starting with two-on-two play about a week and a half ago, Irving ramped it up to three-on-three and then four-on-four for a handful of days. Once he was ready for five-on-five, Irving rejoined the team and participated in a full practice.

Irving said the injury is complicated because it is in his shooting shoulder. He said that if it were in his left shoulder, the pain might have been manageable.

But once he was able to better understand the injury he is dealing with, Irving said he felt like his “goals could be realigned and I could move forward with whatever happens this season.”

“I’ve been training this thing since I was 12 years old,” Irving said, pointing to his injured right shoulder. “Trying to get this at a very high level. When you’re out like that, it can be a lot of frustration, a lot of mental hurdles that you have to fight through. Like I said, I saw so many different specialists on my shoulder and a lot of people asking questions. I became very quiet in my approach, because I didn’t know what the heck was going on with my shoulder.”

Irving said he started losing strength after he was sidelined in November, growing weaker as he attempted to rest his body before getting back on the court. He said he began exercising too soon, which prompted a setback. But now he’s regaining his strength.

“There were things that happened in the last month and a half that really put me in this position,” Irving said. “But after the cortisone [shot on Dec. 24], it gave me a great stepping stone to continue to progress and work my way back on the floor.”

When asked how he’d approach coming back into the lineup, if that day does come, and how he’d elevate the offense, Irving talked about the need for balance. He pointed out how important spreading the offense will be and maintaining the same high-level defense the Nets have been playing with.

“This is my priority, my goal is to win a NBA championship here being in Brooklyn and in order to do that, we got to raise our level in this organization and create a culture that’s at that top level,” Irving said. “When you’re pushing to be the best, you got to make some sacrifices and you got to do some things around here to push the guys and I know that they’re going to do the same for me.”