Philadelphia wide receiver DeVonta Smith remembers “exactly” what Jalen Hurts said when the Eagles quarterback contacted him during last year’s Super Bowl: “We’re going to be there next year.”

On Sunday, the Eagles will square off against the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII at 5:30 p.m. CST Sunday at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. FOX will televise the game.

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The Los Angeles Rams defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20 in Super Bowl LVI, topping another SEC connection – former LSU quarterback Joe Burrow and wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase. Hurts and Smith were teammates at Alabama in 2017 and 2018.

“We were just talking about it, recapping the year that we had,” Smith recalled. “Obviously, not being where we wanted to be. Kind of disappointed in ourselves, expected more out of ourselves and things like that, things that we could have done better.

“And seeing Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase doing the things they did in their first year together, it was just like: We see what they did; we can do it. Let’s work on this and that this offseason — and here we are.”

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Hurts said he contacted Smith because he knew the wide receiver would be reception to a message that emphasized the offseason work needed to lift the Eagles from a one-and-done playoff team in 2021 to a Super Bowl team in 2022.

“I told him that we could be in this position,” Hurts said, “and I felt like he has the right type of conviction and work ethic to go out there and work for it. And we are here now for a reason – because we put the work in. And so, no surprise there. …

“I think it was something we believed in. Like I said, I don’t like to talk about all of that. I like to talk about the work that we put in, and I think we’re here, we have this opportunity in front of us because of the work that we put in.”

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Smith said if any player had put in the work since Super Bowl LVI capped the 2021 season to get the Eagles to Super Bowl LVII, it was Hurts.

“I consider myself a hard worker,” Smith said. “But that guy, he takes it to another level.”

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