From Super Bowl Opening Night to the daily press conferences that have followed, Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts’ public appearances have turned into a week-long ask-me-anything session – perhaps because of the number and variety of media outlets represented in New Orleans for the NFL championship game or because there’s only so many questions that can be asked about the Kansas City Chiefs defense.

Among the inquiries for Hurts this week have included those seeking his advice for youngsters who might be striving to reach their goals as Hurts has pursued his.

“One thing I would say is to stay encouraged,” Hurts said. “Stay encouraged and be yourself – that’s always another one. You’ve got so many eyes and there’s so many comparisons, I think our younger generation deals with the pressure of social media and all that means and trying to compare themselves. But everybody’s their own breed of one, and everybody’s special in their own way. I think people need to embrace that.”

At 26 years old, Hurts is preparing for his second start in the Super Bowl. The Eagles will take on Kansas City in Super Bowl LIX at 5:30 p.m. CST Sunday at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans.

“Opinions are one thing, and purpose is another,” Hurts said. “I think it’s to that person to find what that purpose is. I think purpose is something that’s within you. You have to have a vision for yourself and what you want to accomplish and the things you want to achieve, and a lot of that’s based off your mission, what motivates you and your priorities. I know I’ve invested a lot of time into this game and this craft, and I know this is what I’m called to do in this season of my life, and I just want to do it to the best of my ability.”

Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said adversity had shaped Hurts, such as when the quarterback lost his starting spot at Alabama in 2018 after leading the Crimson Tide to back-to-back appearances in the CFP national-championship game.

“We all have these moments in our life where we have adversity,” Sirianni said on Tuesday. “Again, adversity is not going to hide from — it’s coming after everybody. No one’s hiding from it. And it’s about how you respond. It’s about how you react. It’s about embracing that adversity, knowing that when you do that, it can help make you better.

“So look at Jalen: He’s such a winner. He’s won everywhere he’s went. And now he’s starting in his second Super Bowl. So I think the writings on the wall that Jalen embraced every piece of adversity that he’s hit, and it’s made him better. Again, you can ask him about all that. But I just see a guy that does that, obviously knowing his story, and then I see a guy that does that in the midst of each game. And you have to be able to do that at the quarterback position. You have to be able to do that at every position in the game of football, and so just admire the heck out of him, how he embraced that adversity because, again, it shaped him to who he is.”

Hurts said he had tried to grow from every experience.

“It’s been a journey,” Hurts said. “I always say there is no arrival in this journey, all you have is the journey. You just have to take it a day at a time. For me, it’s been a lot of experiences, a lot of lessons, a lot of transformation and being able to grow from things and learn from things. And that’s just what I’ve always valued myself on: Being able to learn from the good and the bad. Take them all in as the same and continue to improve.”

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