Brown is the only Texan who has participated in the anthem protests, raising his fist at the end of the anthem at a game in New England last season. Brown, who returned to the team this week after holding out the first six games because of contract issues, hasn't done that since then.
"I can't stay quiet about it," he said. "As far as the protests are concerned I think people are going to feel how they want to feel about it. But this is bigger than just the protests. This is the view of player/owner relationship. This is how you view us. This is, 'you get out of line you're an inmate. We can't let you get out of line. We can't let you speak for yourself. We can't let you have your own beliefs.' That's what it feels like. So it's a bad situation."
Brown said he thought about walking out of the building when he first learned of the comments but decided not to. He added that the situation is not over and that they'll talk about it more as a team.
Receiver DeAndre Hopkins did not attend practice on Friday amid reports that he left because of the comment. O'Brien said he took a personal day....