Controversial wide receiver Terrell Owens of the Dallas Cowboys claims he wasn't criticizing Bill Parcells when the Cowboys head coach announced his retirement Monday, ESPN reported Wednesday.

Owens said the locker-room environment was difficult and that Parcells' old-school style of offense hurt the team, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported Monday.

"When I talked to (Parcells) for the first time we left an impression on each other," Owens told the Star-Telegram. "I still think he is a great guy. But he is like my grandmother. You love the person, but they are stuck in their old-school ways. You can't move them from their way of thought."

On Wednesday, Owens told ESPN that when he made mention about his grandmother it wasn't a criticism of Parcells but that he was saying the legendary coach is a guy that obviously has his ways of coaching.

Owens also told ESPN that he believed Parcells never went out of his way to improve their relationship and neither did Owens.

Parcells retires      Parcells says he's retiring from coaching Owens says retirement ‘was needed’ Ventre: T.O. drove Tuna out of the game Celizic: Parcells should stay retired Opinion: Parcells really riding off into sunset?   DISCUSS: Is Tuna done for good?

Owens told ESPN that he tried to practice hard and play hard last season, but he did feel that Parcells mocked him during the preseason when he was injured.

"I think that by him saying that I need to get on the practice field and I that I needed to show him what I can do, I just felt him knowing the type of player that I am and what I've done to play through injuries I felt like he kind of made a mockery out of me in front of the media to say that," Owens told ESPN. "In that sense I kind of lost a sense of respect. But other than that I didn't allow it to deter me of how I practiced because I was seriously injured. "

Jim Rogash / Getty Images The Week in Sports Pictures The nation grieved for those hurt, killed and affected by the Boston Marathon bombings. After one of the suspects was caught on Friday — following a day-long lockdown and manhunt — sports returned to Boston over the weekend.

Owens caught 85 passes for 1,180 yards and had a league-high 13 touchdowns. But he also topped the NFL with a league-high 18 dropped passes.

Owens said that hand injuries were to blame for some of the drops.