PITTSBURGH - Jerome Bettis, the No. 5 rusher in NFL history, claims in a new book that he faked a knee injury during training camp in 2000 so the Steelers wouldn't cut him and install Richard Huntley as the starter.

Bettis was worried offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride favored Huntley over him and the Steelers were ready to let Bettis go, partly so they wouldn't have to give him a new contract.

Huntley had just signed a three-year, $4 million contract.

"Man, did I do a nice job of acting . . . ," Bettis wrote in the book, The Bus: My Life in and Out of a Helmet. "I had to fool the coaches and the team's medical department into thinking the injury had occurred on that play. Otherwise, the Steelers would have had their reason to cut me and my salary."

BROTHER BACKS BROTHER: Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, whose leadership ability once was questioned by a teammate, joined the fray between his younger brother Eli and former Giants running back Tiki Barber, now with NBC.

During a TV broadcast Sunday night, Barber criticized Eli's leadership skills. Eli fired back Tuesday and Peyton Manning weighed in Wednesday.

"Ex-players truly become ex-players right away - the No. 1 job is to criticize players," said Peyton Manning, whose leadership was questioned several years ago by former Colts kicker Mike Vanderjagt.

"I'm pretty defensive of all quarterbacks. Eli is my brother. I'm very loyal to my family. I'd rather you criticize me. I don't think anybody knows what it's like to be a quarterback except a current quarterback."

Eli Manning, for his part, seemed ready to move on from the controversy. He told reporters he would talk to Barber if he saw him.

"I'm not trying to start something," Eli Manning said.

BRADY A DAD: It's a boy for Bridget Moynahan and Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.

The actress gave birth to the baby in Los Angeles, Moynahan's publicist, Christina Papadapoulos, said.

"Both mother and baby are doing well," she said.

Moynahan and Brady split late last year after a three-year relationship.

Brady's whereabouts weren't known. He wasn't on the field or sideline for the first 15 minutes of practice, and Patriots spokesman Stacey James said he didn't know when Brady would rejoin the team.

CULPEPPER TO START: Daunte Culpepper will be Oakland's starting quarterback Friday night against St. Louis.

Culpepper, who signed with the Raiders as a free agent July 31 after being released by Miami, has been taking the majority of repetitions with Oakland's starters in practice this week.