NEW YORK — NFL players and owners agreed that Tuesday’s three-and-a-half-hour meeting at league headquarters about social issues was an unprecedented event, yet no precedent was set.

The elephant in the room, Colin Kaepernick, would have actually been in the room had it been up to the players (at least according to his attorney), but he wasn’t.

In the end, the talks seemed to have improved understanding on both sides and forged a gentlemen’s agreement for more discussion, but nothing tangible was accomplished. On Thursday, when the Kansas City Chiefs meet the Raiders in Oakland, players may still kneel for the national anthem.

In fact, during the meeting of 13 players, 11 owners, NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith and commissioner Roger Goodell, the issue of standing for the national anthem “did not come up,” according to Dolphins owner Stephen Ross. For the players, it was more about explaining to the owners where they were coming from.

“It’s not going to be a resolution overnight,” Colts safety Darius Butler said about the anthem protests. “Obviously these are issues important to the players. That’s what we talked about and some things moving forward.”

San Francisco safety Eric Reid said he doesn’t anticipate a mandate to stand for the anthem, and added that he’ll continue to kneel, something he did with Kaepernick beginning last season.

“The point of the meeting was to discuss these issues and how they are all of our issues,” Reid said.

Right now, NFL bylaws state players “should” stand for the anthem and Goodell sent a league-wide memo last week saying he prefers them to stand. But Goodell said Tuesday, Oct. 17, neither he nor the owners asked for a commitment from the players to stand.

Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins said Kaepernick was invited to the meeting, but didn’t attend. Later, Kaepernick’s attorney in his grievance against the NFL, Mark Geragos, said that wasn’t true.

“Other players wanted him present and have asked that he attend the next meeting with the goal of forging a lasting and faithful consensus around these issues,” he wrote in a statement posted on Twitter. “Mr. Kaepernick is open to future participation on these important discussions.”

After the meeting with the players, the owners and Goodell moved downtown to the Conrad Hotel for their fall meetings, which continue Wednesday morning, Oct. 18. Afterward, Goodell only took one question from the media after a brief statement, saying he’d address more questions Wednesday.

“We spent today talking about the issues that our players have been trying to bring attention to,” Goodell said, adding that another meeting with the players should happen in the next two weeks. “I think we all agree there’s nothing more important than to get back into our communities and make our communities better.”

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who said last week he would bench any player who didn’t stand for the anthem, was confronted by two protesters in the lobby of the hotel before heading upstairs for the meeting. He stood silently and listened to what they had to say before turning and walking away.

There were about 25 protesters outside the hotel around midday, some wearing Black Lives Matter T-shirts and some in Kaepernick jerseys.

Jones didn’t take questions from the media after the meeting other than to say “yes” when asked if he was encouraged by the proceedings. But some other owners did, including Shad Khan of the Jaguars, whose team played in London the first Sunday of widespread protests, and thus was the first owner to stand arms linked with players during the anthem.

“I’ve talked to a lot of the Jaguars players, and I think there was nothing that was brought up I haven’t heard from our players,” Khan said. “Dialogue is always good.”

Added 49ers owner Jed York: “There has to be sincerity from players. There has to be sincerity from owners and teams and the league. And if people don’t show up to lobby local Congressmen, lobby in D.C., then you’re gonna know that it’s not that important of an issue to you. And if owners make this into just a publicity stunt, you’re gonna see through that, and I don’t get that sense at all.”

Earlier Tuesday, the league announced that Goodell and Seahawks receiver Doug Baldwin co-signed a letter to Congressional leaders including Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Dick Durbin (D-Illinois), the Senate Minority Whip, in which they gave their support for the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2017.