ALBANY, N.Y. — Eli Manning defended his decision to rip former New York Giants teammate Tiki Barber on Wednesday, saying there are times when you just have to react to criticism.

The quarterback also said there are also times to forgive and forget, and that he would like to put his disagreement with the halfback-turned-football-analyst behind them.

"I am fine talking to Tiki," Manning said between training camp practices at the University at Albany. "If I see him, I'll definitely talk to him. I will be friendly to him. I'm not trying to start something. It's just a deal that happened."

Manning's peace offering came 24 hours after he criticized Barber for attacking his leadership on the halftime show of the Sunday Night Football game between the Giants and Baltimore Ravens.

Barber had said that Manning's attempt to lead an offensive meeting in the 12th week of the last season was "comical" at times.

After sarcastically noting that Barber was making a smooth transition from the playing field to television, the normally reserved Manning said he could have questioned Barber's leadership last season for calling out coach Tom Coughlin and then having articles about him retiring in the middle of the season. It turned out to be a major distraction for the Giants.