That means there is still an alternative explanation to the hypothesis that the ILNs are necessary for waking consciousness. I'd love to see more evidence about the PAG, but as of today, as I understand it, its role in waking consciousness is not yet established. Or consider another claim, that emotion involves a global state variable. It is not the same as saying that everything in sight is conscious, or that the salience map is equivalent to emotion. The notion of salience may indeed be more fundamental than emotion.
Animals can act in a goal-directed way without much emotion.
Indeed, in mammals there is a very useful distinction between predatory agression and emotional agression. Lionesses hunting at night show predatory aggression, with minimal threat displays. Lions and lionesses don't waste their energy on growling or displaying. They just stalk and pounce. But the same animal will engage in massive threat displays when another member of the pack attempts to steal its mate, or attack its young, or eat its prey.