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It was one of several plays Alves, a redshirt junior, made Wednesday that caught Virginia Tech coach Brent Pry’s attention.

“He had all kinds of different plays. He had some deep balls, he had some contested catches across the middle, he had a tough catch in the end zone. He made a heck of a catch on the sideline with the ball behind him,� Pry said after Wednesday’s practice. “He’s a good-sized target with a good catch radius, so we’ll see. He’s not in that first group yet and he hasn’t been in the second group, but he’s clawing his way right now.�

Alves has spent the early stages of training camp fighting to get into the Hokies’ receiver rotation. Transfers Donavon Greene, Cam Seldon and Isaiah Spencer are splitting the first- and second-team reps with returners Ayden Greene, Tucker Holloway, Chanz Wiggins and Keylen Adams.

Alves’ emergence comes as Tech is dealing with injuries at the receiver position. Seldon and Wiggins did not participate during the open portion of Wednesday’s practice. Pry said Seldon is coming back from a minor injury and added Wiggins’ injury could be “something that may take some time to get him back.�

That’s why Alves’ ability to stand out during practice could be vital for the Hokies’ receiver room in the second half of training camp.

“Had maybe one of the best days a wideout’s had around here in a while,� Pry said of Alves.

The 6-foot-3, 195-pound Alves spent his first three seasons at Tech playing in the secondary — first at cornerback and then at safety — and moved to wide receiver in the spring.

He appeared in all 13 games last season and started at safety in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl.

Tech brought in four safeties through the transfer portal, and that meant Alves’ ability to get on the field on defense was drastically reduced and necessitated the move to receiver.

“I told this story to the guys today and not many of them probably realized he came in here as a corner and had played it some, not extensively, and just when he was starting to come on, he tore his ACL and was sidelined for an extended time, battled back,� Pry said. “We moved him to safety, he’s a big body and it just never came around for him. He tried, he had moments, he’d have setbacks, and it wasn’t natural for him.

“Honestly, out of necessity in the spring, it was we needed some guys at wideout, and he has the length, he’s an athlete, he showed ball skills at DB, and with some convincing, he moved over and had an OK spring, but this summer and this camp, he’s really started to kind of get comfortable at the position.�

Another highlight

The next one-on-one drill between wide receivers and defensive backs featured freshman receiver Micah Matthews against Pittsburgh transfer Jordan Bass. Matthews beat Bass off the line, but Bass recovered and cut under Matthews to intercept the pass from quarterback Garret Rangel.

It was the highlight of the drill as Bass, who transferred to Tech to play linebacker, continues to adjust to playing at safety.

“I think he’s got tremendous range. Plays very hard,� Pry said. “What I see out of him right now since the move to safety is what I saw out of him — and a lot of people saw out of him — back at Phoebus. He played safety and prowled that secondary and closed on things. He tracks the ball really good.

“He’s still learning it, he’s still making too many mental mistakes, too many missed assignments, but he’s an exciting guy back there. He’s aggressive and he’s got great range, got good ball skills, and he’s physical.�

RB depth

Running back Braydon Bennett did not participate in the open portion of practice. Another tailback, Terion Stewart, was an observer during some drills, but he was dressed.

“Bennett got a little knee burse, nothing serious,� Pry said. “Stewart started practice and then got something tweaked a little bit and they took him in, checked him out and brought him back out. I don’t think that’s anything serious.�