Winning his first start helped Blaine Gabbert earn an encore, his coach Jim Tomsula finally concluded this week.

And, in the process, Gabbert endeared himself to his 49ers teammates by making sure to share the credit after Sunday’s victorious debut.

“I told that O-line I was going to stick in there and take some shots to the chin but get the ball out,” Gabbert said after the 17-16 win over Atlanta. “Our running backs did a great job on check downs and our receivers did a great job getting open quickly.”

Not much had gone great, or even above average, as the 49ers lost six of their preceding eight and burrowed into last place. Along the way, reports of locker room rifts surfaced, and Tomsula downplayed them as if they were harmless, Italian-family dinners.

Is Gabbert the guy to bond a disjointed team? Can he resuscitate his career and an undermanned offense at the same time? What carry-over effect will this have for 2016?

Tomsula is proceeding with caution, declining to appoint Gabbert as Kaepernick’s successor beyond the next game, which follows this week’s bye and takes place Nov. 22 at the 49ers’ toughest venue, Seattle’s CenturyLink Field.

Gabbert could have fled the 49ers before this season, but his first taste of free agency didn’t last even a full day, as he re-signed (two years, $4 million).

Gabbert’s 2016 base salary of $1.75 million (plus a $200,000 roster bonus and $50,000 workout clause) is a much more affordable option than Kaepernick ($11.9 million base salary guaranteed April 1). The 49ers’ current quarterback switch goes beyond fiscal ramifications, however.

Running back Shaun Draughn had never played with either quarterback before he was Sunday’s emergency starter. If Draughn then can be considered an unbiased observer, he certainly took an affinity to Gabbert’s moxie.

“Just to hear his lingo and just to be around what he’s feeling about the game — he’s a take-charge type of guy,” Draughn said after Sunday’s game.

Gabbert’s passing stats were modest: 15 of 25 for 185 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. (Kaepernick averaged 18 of 30 for 201 yards in the previous eight games, with six touchdowns and five interceptions overall.)

Gabbert avoided getting sacked, a byproduct not only of his ability to escape danger but perhaps the 49ers’ willingness to finally give Andrew Tiller more time at right guard in place of starter Jordan Devey.

“He sits in the pocket,” Draughn said. “If he needs to, he takes off and makes great plays with his feet.”

Odds are, Gabbert will need to do that a lot next game. The Seahawks sacked Kaepernick six times in their 20-3 win at Levi’s Stadium on Oct. 22.

“Obviously he’s probably not as fast as Colin Kaepernick but he still could run. He made some plays,” Falcons cornerback Desmond Trufant said Sunday.

The 49ers are willing to latch onto any glimmer of hope in this year’s metamorphosis, and Gabbert is that latest option — at the most important position.

No 49ers were teammates with Gabbert in his previous NFL life, when he went 5-22 as the Jacksonville Jaguars starter from 2011-13 as a first-round bust.

All the 49ers care about is that Gabbert is undefeated as their starter.

“He went out there and executed what the coaches asked him to do throughout the week,” linebacker NaVorro Bowman said after Sunday’s game. ” … I definitely think he led us and played for us.

“Hats off to him, and we look forward to coming down and playing on the road next.”

For more on the 49ers, see Cam Inman’s Hot Read blog at blogs.mercurynews.com/49ers. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/CamInman.