Cowboys RB Barber out Sunday vs. Pittsburgh

Dec 6, 2008 - 11:10 PM IRVING, Texas (Ticker) -- The Dallas Cowboys will be without Pro Bowl running back Marion Barber for Sunday's showdown against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Barber missed practice all week with a dislocated right pinkie toe that he suffered in the second quarter of the Cowboys' 34-9 win over Seattle on Thanksgiving. The fourth-year veteran did not accompany the team on the trip to Pittsburgh.

Rookie Tashard Choice, who rushed for 57 yards against the Seahawks, will get his first career start - but will be going against the league's top-rated defense. The Steelers yield a league-low 71.2 rushing yards per contest.

The 25-year-old Barber is Dallas' leading rusher with 870 yards and seven touchdowns this season. He has also caught a career-high 47 passes for 366 yards and a pair of scores.

Dallas' depth in the backfield had already been depleted by injuries. Rookie running back Felix Jones is out for the season after suffering a torn ligament in his left big toe while rehabbing a slightly torn hamstring.

With Barber still hobbled, the Cowboys signed first-year back Alonzo Coleman off the practice squad on Friday. A former undrafted free agent out of Hampton, Coleman spent most of the last two campaigns on the practice squad. He is Hampton's all-time leader with 4,648 rushing yards and 62 touchdowns.

In a corresponding move, the Cowboys released first-year cornerback Quincy Butler, who was made expendable by the return of Adam Jones. The embattled veteran will make his return to the field on Sunday after missing six games due to a suspension for violating the league's personal conduct policy.

Dallas (8-4) heads into Sunday's game tied with Atlanta (8-4) for the NFC's second wild card spot.