arion Barber said a little rest and a couple of massages did his body good during the bye week and that his strained left quadriceps is "no longer a problem."

He even said, "I'm not banged up or anything."

Hmmm, I thought he is playing with a fractured thumb?

We'll see. Running backs coach Skip Peete said the quadriceps injury is something that would linger for a long time. After sitting out the Carolina game, Barber was not the same runner against Denver and Kansas City.

He did not have that same explosion although he did have some effective runs. But I can think of one run against Kansas City where he labored to get down the field when he normally would have looked to run over a defensive back.

When healthy, he is the Cowboys' best back. When 80 percent, I'm splitting time with him and Tashard Choiceas the every down back and mixing in Felix Jones.