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As the Packers face a low-probability run-the-table-and-get-plenty-of-help scenario to make it to the playoffs, the man in charge of the franchise isn’t ready to fold the tents.

“I’ve heard from a lot of fans this week regarding the state of the team,” Packers CEO Mark Murphy writes in the preamble to an online Q&A. “Many have said that, since the chances of making the playoffs are so slim, we should sit some of our starters (including Aaron Rodgers), play more of our younger players and focus on the future. Others have said that we shouldn’t worry about winning and that a benefit would be that we would have a better draft position.”

It’s a bit of a surprise that Murphy would proactively address the issue of tanking. Yes, the temptation to tank is real, and from a business standpoint it makes plenty of sense to put lesser players on the field under the guise of evaluating them, but with a broader goal of losing now and winning in April via higher slots in each of the seven rounds of the draft. But the NFL and its teams typically avoid affirmatively discussing (and in turn legitimizing) what amounts to a direct threat to the integrity of late-season games between teams that have something on the line and teams that don’t.

“I’m not ready to give up on the season,” Murphy adds, as if he or anyone else would admit to giving in to the tanking temptation. “Now, I realize that we are 4-6-1 (and as Bill Parcells famously said, ‘You are what your record says you are’) and that we haven’t played well. However, we still have almost a third of the season left to play. I know that the odds of making the playoffs are slim (I’ve seen odds range from 3 to 15 percent), but we still have a lot to play for. If we can finish the season strong, even if we don’t make the playoffs (and crazier things have happened), it will give the team confidence that can carry over to next year. Also, from the individual player’s standpoint, the average career is so short (3.1 years) and every game means so much, they all have much to play for over the next five weeks.”

Murphy doesn’t mention that the head coach also has a strong incentive to win as many games as possible, in an effort to save his job. But that goes without saying, especially since Murphy says nothing in the column that would or could be interpreted as an indication that Mike McCarthy definitely will return in 2019.