The Eagles took a monumental risk with their final pick of the fourth round yesterday and a minor one with their only pick of the third round.

With the 131st overall pick, the Eagles selected Jack Ikegwuonu, a cornerback out of Wisconsin with a pending legal issue and multiple torn knee ligaments that will prevent him from playing this season.

The Eagles' gamble on third-round pick Bryan Smith of McNeese State paled in comparison. He's simply an undersized defensive end whom a lot of people expected to be selected much later than the third round.

Reid insisted he was not worried about Ikegwuonu's legal problems.

"I think that will work itself out as time goes on," Reid said. "I didn't only trust what he said; we obviously did a little investigation into it ourselves. We just have to let the court go through its sentencing phase and then we'll see."

During his sophomore year at Wisconsin, Ikegwuonu and his twin brother, William, were arrested in DeKalb, Ill., and charged with residential burglary and criminal trespass after they allegedly broke into an apartment and tried to steal an Xbox game system.

According to the Web site profootballtalk.com, Ikegwuonu reached a plea agreement and was sentenced to two years' probation and 50 hours of community service after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge of trespassing.

During a conference call yesterday, Ikegwuonu said he could not talk about the case and said the outcome was still pending.

"I have been trying to profess my innocence since then and show everyone that it's not what the prosecution is making it out to be," Ikegwuonu said. "It's tough to hear you have character issues and stuff like that. I had never been in trouble with the law my entire life besides that one incident.

"Most people that have gotten to know me and that have been around me my entire life know that I am not a troublemaker. I am a hardworking kid, and I am just a happy-go-lucky kind of guy."

Ikegwuonu, who decided to leave Wisconsin after his junior season, was projected as a second- or third-round pick until he suffered torn anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in his right knee during a workout in Florida as he was preparing for the NFL scouting combine.

"I was pulling the sled, and it kind of got tangled in my feet and . . . my knee got stuck in the turf," Ikegwuonu said. "After that, it was hard to keep my head up. I was not very optimistic about the draft coming up and then having a devastating injury like that - I didn't know how to deal with that."

Excessive swelling prevented Ikegwuonu from having surgery until mid-March. When the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel conducted a survey of 20 scouts, six said they did not think the Wisconsin cornerback would be drafted. He had also hurt his stock by failing a drug test during his junior season.

"Having this opportunity is a blessing in itself," Ikegwuonu said. "I am just happy to be in the NFL. It is a dream of mine."

As for Smith, he is a 6-foot-2, 231-pound defensive end who many people believe was best suited to play outside linebacker in a 3-4 defensive system. Smith, who had 101/2 sacks and 221/2 tackles for losses in his senior season at McNeese State in Louisiana, said the Eagles told him they want him to play defensive end. He had 131/2 sacks and 23 tackles for losses as a junior at the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) school.

"What we saw there was great speed and a real knack for rushing the passer," Reid said, adding that he wasn't concerned about Smith's being undersized. "I care about how they play, and this kid here was just a heck of a player - a great player with great instincts. We'll see how he does."