SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- The San Francisco 49ers know the blitzes are coming. So far, they haven't been able to handle them, and Steve Young is paying the price.

	Steve Young's status has helped accent the problems for San Francisco.

"We've got to protect better if he's going to make it through a season," San Francisco co-offensive line coach Pat Morris said. "I think it's the protection scheme as a whole that has got to make sure Steve doesn't take that many hits. No quarterback can last."

Young, who considered retirement after a series of concussions in 1996 and 1997, nearly didn't last through San Francisco's 28-21 victory over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.

He took one hit after another and at the finish was wobbly and unsteady, though he pulled himself together to throw a game-tying touchdown pass to Terrell Owens in the late going.

With his body sore Monday, Young was asked if it was among the roughest outings he's had.

"I don't keep track of that. My mother does," said Young, who also took a serious pounding from a blitzing Jaguars defense in last week's season-opening 41-3 loss at Jacksonville.

"She didn't see the game. She was flying to see my sister because she had a baby. She called and said, 'I missed it.' I'm grateful."

San Francisco coach Steve Mariucci was around to see it, and he said Young can't take too many more games like the one he endured Sunday.

"Obviously, some teams will blitz more than others, but pressuring the quarterback with a variety of stunts and 'dogs and blitzes is really the sign of the times, so we've got to be able to handle it," Mariucci said.

"We got blitzed last year as well. This is nothing new. What's a little bit new is Steve got hit 21 times. That hasn't happened to us like this before. So we've got to be better protecting him and doing some of the things that help him in a game."

During San Francisco's final offensive series, Chris Hewitt rushed in on safety blitzes three times, coming in unblocked and decking Young each time. He drew a roughing-the-passer call for a helmet-to-helmet hit that left the quarterback shaken, but also kept the game-tying drive alive.

Young likened Hewitt's hits to being struck full-force by William "The Refrigerator" Perry. Young said dealing with the physical punishment is part of the job, and he has one more day to recover this week since San Francisco next plays at Arizona on Monday night.

"I think when you play long enough, if you think about how hard you are getting hit, you are not going to win," Young said. "You've got to get past that."

It hasn't helped that the 49ers are missing Greg Clark, one of the best blocking tight ends in the league who has been sidelined by five broken ribs suffered in a preseason game. And right tackle Jeremy Newberry also has struggled, failing on several key plays to protect the left-handed Young's blind side.

Guard Derrick Deese said the 49ers have to do a better job of picking up the blitzes.

"Until you can put a stop to it, we'll probably keep seeing it," Deese said.