TJ Lavin improving and breathing on his own following BMX crash

TJ Lavin, injured in an accident in Las Vegas, is improving and breathing on his own, friends said.

"He's answering questions," friend and business partner Chas Aday said in a People Magazine report.

The bicyclist and MTV host, 33, was injured in a bicycle crash Oct. 14, and was put into a medically induced coma to limit swelling in his brain, the report said.

The BMX bicycle rider has started mumbling a few words to his family, and feeding tubes have been removed, the report said.

Doctors don't think Lavin sustained brain damage from the crash, but he will probably need to attend rehabilitation for his brain in order "to get it back to normal," Aday said.

Lavin also had orthopedic surgery to repair a shattered wrist.

"We're moving along and everything is looking up," Aday said.