Watchdog

Well, Tiki Barber obviously wasn't shy about acknowledging the elephant in the room when he sat down with Eli Manning for an interview airing on NBC Sunday night:

TIKI BARBER: So before last season on NBC, I publicly questioned your early leadership. Now clearly I was proven wrong. But what was your reaction when you heard?

ELI MANNING: I obviously had to stand up for myself. I kind of felt I was called out. So I had to come back and stand up for myself. I felt in that situation, I had to say something. Sometimes, you’ve got to go outside what's your norm and do something you feel strongly about. I've been through all sorts of things in New York City through the media. There's a time when you reach a certain point where you’ve got to stand up and fight back a little bit.

BARBER: I think the New York Giants have taken on your personality, not Tom Coughlin’s, but yours. Is there a point when you thought to yourself, or you felt to yourself, ‘This team, at least this offense, it's mine now?'

MANNING: I have felt that the team and a little bit of the offense has taken that philosophy. We have some guys on our offense or in the coaching staff, who kind of get tensed up. And whether that's Coughlin or Kevin Gilbride their intensity, I tried to stay calm. And they might be yelling at me. But I just keep my cool. And I think that helps keep everybody on the sideline relaxed.