Lions GM standing behind Stafford

Bob Quinn had a lot to answer for during a rare news conference.

The Detroit general man- ager spoke for over 40 min- utes Friday, recapping a disappointing season in which the Lions went 6-10. A year ago around this time, Detroit fired coach Jim Caldwell after back-to-back 9-7 campaigns.

Quinn said in no uncertain terms that he has confidence in quarterback Matthew Stafford, whose future with Detroit has been the subject of some speculation after the University of Georgia product threw for 3,777 yards this season, his lowest total since 2010. Quinn said he feels the Lions can win a Super Bowl with him.

“Matthew Stafford’s our quarterback. He will be our quarterback here,” Quinn said. “This guy’s a really talented player, and myself, the coaches need to put him in better situations.”

Stafford turns 31 next month and just finished his 10th season with the Lions, who drafted him with the first overall pick in 2009.

■ The Bears will wait until right before Sunday’s playoff matchup against the Eagles to make a determination on the availability of safety Eddie Jackson. Jackson was officially listed as questionable Friday on the final injury report after he went through a second straight limited practice because of a right ankle injury.

■ The Chargers will wait until today before deciding if tight end Hunter Henry will be added to the roster for the postseason. The third-year player returned to practice on Dec. 17 and took part in team drills this week as the Chargers prepared for Sunday’s AFC wild-card game at Baltimore. Henry tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during an offseason workout.

■ All of the NFL television partners have reason to be happy at the end of the regular season — all five packages showed increases following years of declines.

The league showed a 5 percent increase this season as an average of 15.8 million viewers tuned into non-London games. It was a year largely devoid of offfield controversy after ratings decreased 9.7 percent last season and 8 percent in 2016.

Neal Pilson, the former president of CBS Sports who now runs a consulting company, said the increases are due to a number of factors which include better primetime matchups and several big-market teams doing well.