Texans owner Bob McNair died Friday in Houston, the team announced. He was 81.

"It is with deep sadness that we announce Houston Texans Founder, Senior Chairman and Chief Executive Officer and philanthropist, Robert C. McNair passed away peacefully in Houston today with his loving wife, Janice, and his family by his side," the team said in a statement.

Demaryius Thomas ripped the Denver Broncos, who traded him to the Houston Texans last week.

The receiver claims he was misled by the team about the possibility of a trade, was asked to surrender playing time in favor of rookie wide receivers and that it was "heartbreaking" he was not a team captain.

"Monday before [the trade] Vance Joseph walked up to me and he said, 'Don't listen to the trade talk; it's not true,'" he said. "... When he said that to me, I said, 'How is that not true? My agent called me today and said Elway wanted a fifth-round pick for me.' So, are we telling stories to each other now? I thought we were going to men about this."

Thomas added: "I knew something was going to happen."

He also called it "honor from Day 1 to yesterday" to play in Denver and that "I love everybody and always will. I love the city still and I'm always going to love the city because that's where it began."

Deshaun Watson hopes the Houston Texans have a seamless transition adding Demaryius Thomas to replace Will Fuller.

"Nothing, really, should stop the train," Watson said Wednesday. "[Thomas] is a veteran guy who can do a lot of different things. And he's played a lot of football, so it's a great opportunity for all of us to get on the same page and continue to put a lot of yards in the air and put a lot of points on the board."

In eight games this season, Thomas has 36 catches for 402 yards and 3 touchdowns.

"Will is a big piece of this offense," Watson said. "It's tough to lose a guy like that. But regaining a guy like [Thomas] and being able to include him in the offense and do the same thing that Will did is a great addition for us, too."