Alex Smith enters his second season in Jim Harbaugh's system and has reached a new level comfort that he hasn't experienced during his time with the 49ers.

"(He) totally understands the offense now," said offensive coordinator Greg Roman. "He can recite things. He can fix things. Understands where people are. When you go back and look at our first early games last season, just getting through a straight progression was a work in progress relative to where it was late in the season relative to what it is now.

"He's getting through his reads quicker. He's eliminating reads earlier. Really just taking ownership of our offense. He understands all the different things that we do. He's really,really, really intelligent, bright football player. Really intelligent. He is super smart. Savant like at times."

The 49ers want Smith to give up fewer sacks, as he led the NFL in the category in 2011 with 44. Smith only threw five interceptions, which was the positive byproduct of the sacks.

"The one thing that Alex did through all that, a historically great job of protecting the football," Roman said.