I prefer keeping the concepts of "playing in time together" and "playing in time together on a strict grid" separate. For example, in a classical orchestra you typically very much strive to play in time together, but you do that according to the conductor's interpretation of the tempo marks of the piece, which often calls for tempo variation.

In jazz, you also typically do your best to play in time together, but for long sections timing is often made an open-ended problem where the rhythm section doesn't interfere too much with stylistic timing variations that IMO often separate the simply skillful solo from the deeply felt one. The idea of an accent in modern popular music seems largely have practically narrowed to dynamic articulation, but agogic accents are a thing that skilled musicians can perform in a band setting without it seeming like an "imperfection".