When the media gathered at the locker of Marlon Humphrey in the Baltimore Ravens’ locker room on Thursday, the cornerback wore an Ole Miss warmup jacket.

Did the former Alabama All-American lose a bet with a teammate?

“This is for my guy Lane Kiffin,” Humphrey said. “I wanted him to be the Bama coach. I told him he should come to Bama. But then like an hour later, they already hired the new coach.

“Lane is my guy, but I still bleed crimson. I still bleed crimson.”

Now the Ole Miss coach, Kiffin worked as Alabama’s offensive coordinator from 2014 through 2016, the same three seasons that Humphrey was with the Crimson Tide.

Alabama’s head coach during those years, Nick Saban stepped down as the Tide’s leader after 17 seasons on Jan. 10. Two days later, Washington coach Kalen DeBoer was Alabama’s choice to succeed Saban.

The most pressing questions for Humphrey, though, weren’t about his attire but concerned the three-time Pro Bowler’s playing status for the AFC Championship Game.

The Ravens will play the Kansas City Chiefs at 2 p.m. CST Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore for a spot in Super Bowl LVIII. CBS will televise Sunday’s game.

Humphrey has not played since sustaining a calf injury in the Ravens’ 56-19 victory over the Miami Dolphins on Dec. 31. He has returned to practice for the first time this week on a limited basis.

The former Hoover High School star said his calf is “doing good.” But Humphrey said his playing status might be a game-time decision.

“I usually let all that happen with (coach John Harbaugh) and the medical team, and then go from there,” Humphrey said.

Injuries have bedeviled Humphrey in 2023. He missed seven games during the regular season and played barely half of the defensive snaps that he had in 2022.

Humphrey missed the first four games of the 2023 season after having foot surgery during training camp, two more November games because of a calf injury and the regular-season finale with another calf injury.

Humphrey also couldn’t play as Baltimore opened the postseason with a 34-10 victory over the Houston Texans on Saturday.

“It’s been rough,” Humphrey said. “I’ve been kind of trying to just stay positive through it. It’s definitely not been ideal for me, but I think the best thing that’s kind of really helped me get through it is — honestly, what’s helped me get through it the most is just seeing how the guys are playing on Sundays. I obviously watch the defense a little closer than the offense, because I know what’s going on on defense, but the way those guys have been flying around, it’s really been inspiring to see that you can have the comfortability to just shoot your shot, and if you miss, there’s (Roquan Smith) coming, there’s (Patrick Queen) coming. …

“It seems like the defense has just been flying around like crazy, and I think that’s something that’s really changed since we added Roquan. There is no one – it’s not even like a debate — no one runs to the ball the way Roquan Smith does, and that’s literally been contagious. It’s actually been contagious to everybody on the defense, how everyone’s game is elevated since he’s come, since he’s been our leader on defense. And so that’s really what’s been keeping me going, man. It’s like I got to do whatever I can to get back out there because the way these guys are playing, I just want to be a part of that.”

Baltimore acquired Smith in a trade with the Chicago Bears on Oct. 31, and the Ravens have an 8-1 record with the linebacker in the lineup.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.