Watkins was omitted entirely from the matchday squad for Sunday's 4-0 defeat at Brighton & Hove Albion — Villa's opening Premier League fixture of the season — despite Brian Madjo and Tammy Abraham, the club's only other recognised forwards, both being sidelined through injury.
Pressed afterwards on Watkins' situation, Emery gave one of the most pointed non-answers of his Aston Villa tenure: "This question is for him. I can answer only with my silence."
Asked directly whether the 30-year-old had refused to play, Emery deflected further: "I think you can call him, you can call his agent and he can respond. He can only explain his answer, I can't. We had two strikers injured and another striker — it's his answer."
The response did little to calm frustration around Villa Park. Supporters, already smarting from a chastening opening-day scoreline, turned much of their anger on Watkins rather than the team's defensive display, with the striker's continued absence from the squad seen as symptomatic of a deeper rift.
Villa maintain that Watkins is neither ill nor injured, though he is understood not to have trained fully in the past week.
According to the Daily Mail, the club have rejected four separate offers from Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal for the striker this summer, with the most recent thought to be worth around £34million — a fee well short of Villa's valuation.
Watkins joined Villa from Brentford in 2020 and has since scored 108 goals in 278 appearances, helping the club win the Europa League and reach the Champions League.
Emery insisted his players had responded to the circumstances with the right attitude, even in defeat.
"We made some mistakes, they scored the goals and in 25 minutes we lost everything. Emotionally as well a little bit we lost. We lost a very important three points, but it's something the last three years — at the beginning until the transfer window finishes — we had as well some problems, like we are having now.
"The players that are here today, they are keeping the mentality I want for the team — to be always not complaining and not blaming and trying to be passionate as well, even with a bad result like today."
With the transfer window edging towards its close, Emery's players now face the task of steadying themselves without their senior striker, whatever the outcome of his stand-off with the club.