Bob McNair, the Houston Texans owner, faced a growing backlash on Friday after saying “we can’t have the inmates running the prison” in response to NFL players taking a knee during the United States national anthem. He later issued a public apology.

In a report on ESPN, McNair’s provocative statement at a meeting last week between owners, team executives and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell “stunned some in the room”.

“After the owners finished, Troy Vincent [the NFL executive vice-president of football operations] stood up,” the article added. “He was offended by McNair’s characterization of the players as ‘inmates’. Vincent said that in all his years of playing in the NFL – during which, he said, he had been called every name in the book, including the N-word – he never felt like an ‘inmate’.”

McNair reportedly apologized to Vincent later “saying that he felt horrible and that his words weren’t meant to be taken literally”.

In an official statement, McNair said: “I regret that I used that expression. I never meant to offend anyone and I was not referring to our players. I used a figure of speech that was never intended to be taken literally. I would never characterize our players or our league that way and I apologize to anyone who was offended by it.”

McNair reportedly donated $1m to Donald Trump’s inaugural committee. The US president has been a vocal opponent of the NFL anthem protests.

Texans wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins was an unexpected no-show at practice on Friday; head coach Bill O’Brien declined to address whether it was related to McNair’s controversial comments. Some Texans players considered staging a walkout, ESPN reported.