ALBANY - Eli Manning has taken plenty of hits from the media regarding his aw-shucks demeanor and laid-back attitude.

Tiki Barber fired a few shots during NBC's Sunday night telecast of New York Giants-Baltimore Ravens, calling Manning's attempts at being a leader last season “comical.”

Manning was smiling Tuesday when he fired back, but he did indeed bring the hammer down on his old teammate, much to the delight of the current Giants.

“I guess I was just happy for Tiki that he made a smooth transition into the media world,” Manning said.

“It will be interesting to see if he has anything else to say (about anyone) besides the Giants and what his comments will be on that. I'm not going to lose any sleep over what Tiki has to say.

“I guess I could have questioned his leadership skills last year, calling out the coach and having articles about him retiring in the middle of the season saying he lost the heart.”

Barber had reserved his biting remarks about the Giants for Tom Coughlin, his old coach, who reportedly scoffed at an NBC request to have Barber interview him before Sunday night's telecast. But during the broadcast, Barber said Manning's attempts to take over the leadership role that Barber ceded to the quarterback were off-target.

“He hasn't shown (an ability to lead),” Barber said on the broadcast. “His personality hasn't been so that he can step up, make a strong statement and have people believe that it's coming from his heart.

“Last year about Week 12 I turned over the offensive motivational speech to Eli and he was gung-ho to do it, but he was uncomfortable doing it. I think a lot of it had to do with vets being around - myself, Jeremy Shockey, Plaxico Burress. He didn't feel like his voice was going to be strong enough, and it showed. Sometimes it was almost comical the way that he would say things.”

Manning said he had no intention of going out of his way to take shots at Barber. “I don't like to put out guys,” he said. “I don't like to show up anybody. That's the way I am. That's the way I'll always be, probably.”

But, as one teammate noted when informed of the comments, “The guy gets beat up so much, sometimes you have to fight back.”

So Manning did, letting the Giants' media relations staff know he was going to say a few words beforehand and making one of the stronger public statements he's made in three-plus seasons with the team.

“He thought about what he was going to do, and he decided he'd say what he felt,” Coughlin said. “More power to him.”

Manning doesn't plan on changing his style or mannerisms, as he's said many times in the past when the “L” word has come up. His teammates don't expect or want a change, either.

“He gets fired up on Sundays,” said wide receiver Plaxico Burress, who practiced Tuesday for the first time since injuring his ankle on Aug. 2. “It's kind of shocking, some of the things that come out of his mouth, but that's good for us as an offense and as teammates to see that.”

“I thought Tiki and Eli were pretty good friends,” wide receiver Amani Toomer said. “It's kind of strange to have him say something like that. ... I don't believe (Barber) really believes that.”