Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts figures he’s gotten something autographed by the man masterminding to stop him in the NFC Championship Game on Sunday.

As a youngster, Hurts spent an every-boy’s-dream amount of time around the Houston Texans when his godfather Sean Washington worked as the NFL team’s director of player development.

San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans played middle linebacker for the Texans from 2006 through 2011 – the football seasons when Hurts was 8 through 13 years old.

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Ryans becomes another hometown connection for Hurts in the 2022 season. Hurts fulfilled a childhood dream by playing at NRG Stadium in the Eagles’ 29-17 victory over Houston on Nov. 3, and he played against former Texans star J.J. Watt, who was in his final NFL season, in a 20-17 victory on Oct. 9.

“I’m sure I’ve gotten a signed pair of cleats or a signed ball from (Ryans) or something like that from him,” Hurts said on Wednesday. “Obviously going back to Houston, reflecting on it now, I didn’t realize how important that was to me and how big it was in winning that game when we played the Houston Texans. When I was in the stadium, I kind of realized how cool that was considering my background and history with the team, growing up in the city and always being in their facilities and all that.

“But, yeah, it’s kind of cool. It’s kind of a cool moment to be playing against him, knowing I watched him. Same with J.J. Watt. I watched J.J. Watt as a kid, played against him this year, so it’s cool.”

Hurts and Ryans share another connection: Both were standout players for Alabama. Ryans earned unanimous All-America recognition and won the SEC Defensive Player of the Year Award in 2005, 11 seasons before Hurts arrived and won the SEC Offensive Player of the Year Award as a freshman QB.

Hurts and Ryan have squared off once previously in the NFL. On the second Sunday of the 2021 season – Hurts’ first as the Eagles’ regular QB and Ryans’ first as the 49ers’ defensive coordinator – San Francisco defeated Philadelphia 17-11.

“Jalen is looking a lot more comfortable within the offense,” Ryans said on Thursday, “and scheme-wise, it seems like they’ve put in more concepts that he’s more comfortable with and he has a really great command of the offense. He’s decisive with where he’s going with the ball, and they surround him with a lot of playmakers, adding (wide receiver) A.J. Brown.

“Has a lot of playmakers around him, (wide receiver DeVonta) Smith, Brown, the backs, tight ends, they have a really good core of guys. He distributes the ball really well. And those guys are really good after they catch the ball of making a guy miss and creating space and getting more yards after the catch, so they’ve done a really good job of just tailoring the offense around Jalen, and that’s what makes him look more comfortable.”

San Francisco led the NFL in scoring defense, yielding an average of 16.3 points per game, and total defense, giving up an average of 300.6 yards per game, during the regular season.

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“They’re really good all across the board,” Hurts said. “I think it starts off with their front seven and then having a really good defensive-back group. They fly to the ball. They’re disruptive at every position. They’re well-coached, so we have a task in front of us. We have a really big challenge in front of us, and, as always, we just want to go out there and execute, try to be efficient.”

Ryans said Hurts will challenge the San Francisco defense with his ability to throw the football down the field and run for yardage. During the 2022 regular season, Hurts completed 306-of-460 passes for 3,701 yards with 22 touchdowns and six interceptions and ran for 760 yards and 13 touchdowns on 165 carries.

“We know the challenge that we have this week when guys have to go up and be able to make a play,” Ryans said. “They get opportunities when the ball is up. It’s an opportunity for us to go up and make the play. That’s how I view it. And when it comes to him scrambling around, that’s all 11. It starts with our D-line being where they’re supposed to be and guys who are responsible to go get the quarterback.

“We just have to do our job. No, we can’t make a bigger deal out of it than it is. Everybody has to do their job, be where they’re supposed to be, and we play defense with all 11 as a group swarming. That’s what’s going to help us defend the quarterback running.”

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The 49ers and Eagles will square off at 2 p.m. CST Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. FOX will televise the game.

Hurts and Ryans have another connection, too. Ryans played for the Eagles for the final four seasons of his career, so the former linebacker knows what San Francisco will be up against trying to reach Super Bowl LVII on Philadelphia’s home field.

“The environment, it’ll be hostile,” Ryans said. “It’ll be loud, as it should be — NFC Championship Game, we’re in their stadium, we’re on their turf. We understand it’s going to be hostile, but we also have to understand you block out all of those distractions and you just go and play the best football you can play for three-and-a-half hours.”

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