Programming note: Jim Harbaugh is scheduled to address the media at 11:15 a.m. Watch the live stream right here.
SANTA CLARA -- Center Marcus Martin made his NFL debut one week.
The next, he was faced with one of the most difficult environments for a center in the NFL.
After struggling, along with the entire 49ers offense, in a loss to the St. Louis Rams, Martin bounced back with a strong showing in the 49ers’ 27-24 overtime victory at the New Orleans Saints.
“Marcus comes in everyday with the same attitude to improve,” 49ers offensive coordinator Greg Roman said. “I think he’s got a good group around him to help mentor him and he’s done a very nice job. You really wouldn’t notice anything different from week to week with him. That was a really good job and he understands that every week, every day is an opportunity to get better as we go through this part of the season.
“I thought he handled things very well during the week in his preparation which allowed him to trust his preparation in the game. I thought it afforded him very well.”
Martin, a third-round draft pick from USC, was expected to compete with Daniel Kilgore for the starting job to open the season. But Kilgore took the job during the offseason and did not let go.
Meanwhile, Martin sustained an acute dislocated knee cap during the exhibition season and was inactive for the first seven games of the regular season. At first, he was rehabilitating his injury. Then, he was a healthy scratch, as the 49ers went with Joe Looney and Jonathan Martin as the backup offensive linemen.
But when Kilgore’s season ended with a fractured leg, the 49ers turned to Martin to enter the starting lineup.
“We do not age discriminate,” Roman said. “If you can play, you can play for us. His personality is excited, excited about the opportunity, energy, awareness, big eyes, a sponge trying to get as much information as possible, but he’s handling it thus far with a level of maturity that you want out of a center.”
Martin was able to handle the crowd noise in the Superdome and keep things running smoothly at the line of scrimmage for the 49ers.
"That’s a tough environment to play in," 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh said. "That’s a difficult place to go down and get a win. And then a center starting his second game in that kind of environment. I think that speaks volumes."
