Marlon Humphrey pushes back on what he calls 'slander' against Lamar Jackson as the Ravens QB eyes a return vs. the Bengals

Baltimore Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey has heard enough about Lamar Jackson.

Asked Thursday how his quarterback looked at practice, Humphrey went off on a tangent about the way Jackson is covered. "It seems like Lamar's the only quarterback kind of gets the slander that he gets for anytime anything is going on," he said. "I feel like you just don't see these same articles. I'm in the hot tub and it's this, that and the third. Unfair treatment."

Jackson is back on the field this week after missing the past two games with a sprained left ankle.

'Take it however you want'

Humphrey did not say exactly what he meant when he was asked whether he was talking about the chatter around Jackson's injury.

"I just feel like sometimes it seems like it gets away from ... I don't know if it's because of lack of agent or what, that no one can kind of defend him," Humphrey said. "But I do know this, if Lamar Jackson can play, if he's healthy enough to play, he will play."

Pressed again, he kept it short. "Whatever I said is whatever I said. You can take it however you want."

Before that, Humphrey had made it clear he would rather leave the talking to the quarterback. "I think if Lamar can play, it'd be great," he said. "If he doesn't, we got Snoop," a reference to backup Tyler Huntley.

Moving well at practice

Jackson hurt the ankle 18 days ago. He moved well on Thursday and took part in every drill during the part of practice open to reporters. He was listed as limited for the second day in a row.

A return Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals would come at a good time for Baltimore. Jackson is 11-2 in his career against Cincinnati with 24 touchdown passes and six interceptions.