Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Dirk Koetter defended his call to sit $36-million man Doug Martin in the Week 16 loss to the Saints on Monday, comparing the running back position to any other on the field.

"I made the decision that I thought Quizz (Rodgers) would give us a better opportunity last week and Quizz did a good job when he was in there," Koetter said. "There's other decisions like that made every week, just that this one is a little bit higher profile."

By virtue of Dallas' Monday night victory over Detroit, the Bucs' playoff hopes are still alive, albeit very remote. Among the factors that need to go the Bucs' way in Week 17 is a tie between Washington and the New York Giants.

When discussing who would start at running back this week against Carolina, Koetter was mum.

"Right now, I'm not going to say anything about who's going to play this week because I don't want to do Carolina any favors as to who we're going to play," Koetter said. "Last week, we made a decision for the Saints game based on what I thought was best for our team that week. We'll do the same thing this week."

Martin has only played in eight games this season after signing a five-year, $36 million extension in the offseason after being the NFL's second-leading rusher in 2015.