Daren Bates was signed to help out the Falcons special teams when they needed that help badly, as Atlanta had surrendered a pair of long kickoff returns against Washington and the Jets. Bates was indeed a big help over the course of four weeks, but then an injury knocked him out for nearly a month and led to him being placed on injured reserve.
This week, core special teamer Emmanuel Ellerbee is on the reserve/COVID-19 list, which would be a blow for a Falcons team that has been leaning heavily on him since Bates got hurt. Fortunately for Atlanta, Bates is on his way back, and could suit up against the 49ers.