England opener Crawley suggested he was not familiar with statements made by skipper Stokes about the team environment as no place for "weak men".
The all-rounder made those words in multiple conversations following his team's defeat in the second match of the Ashes series versus the Australians earlier this month.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England are staring at a series loss at the earliest opportunity, Stokes stated he had let his sentiment to "drift around" within the squad.
"I've done the necessary discussions in recent days that I needed to have done," remarked the England leader.
However, following the opener scored a knock of 85 on the fourth day in Adelaide, he commented: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the press with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
Stokes issued his "weak men" observation subsequent to his side suffered a loss in Brisbane to fall two matches behind.
The England squad afterwards took a holiday to a Queensland resort between the second and third Tests.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, he revealed his team had held "honest" conversations and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their battle to stay in contention in the series.
Yet, the Kent batsman stated the guidance from Stokes and head coach McCullum had remained consistent with their previous three years in leadership.
"It's been very positive, unchanged," noted Crawley. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do an extraordinary feat entering this game."
The Hosts On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory
Crawley's wicket late on Saturday came during a crucial three-wicket burst by Australia spinner Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – he also bowled Brook and Stokes himself – left the chasing side six down for 207 chasing a daunting total of 435 runs.
This means, Australia require four wickets on the last day to secure an unassailable 3-0 advantage with three matches played.
A loss would prolong England's drought in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth successive away Ashes series loss.
This series is set to be decided in only eleven days of play – after England losing the first two Tests in rapid time respectively.
The last time 1921, when Australia completed victory in England in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been decided so quickly. Australia have also won in eleven days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"This is disappointing," said the batsman. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are facing elimination at this point."
"There will still be plenty to play for and we will definitely view it like that," he continued.
"It's been difficult. They're a very, very good side. It was always going to be tough touring here to face them. They were the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
Although Crawley's performance in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his immediate place in the side, Pope looks under immense pressure for his spot in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
Pope fell for 17 runs in the team's second knock on day four, extending his modest returns against the old enemy.
In 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has failed to score a half-century and boasts an average of 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top six in the Ashes and recorded a lower average.
However, the opener insisted any notion Pope is under the microscope comes from "you guys" – referring to the journalists – "and not within the team."
"We all know how good of a player he is," added Crawley. "He has had a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has produced some really good knocks. This is noise externally. There is no discussion of that nature regarding Pope in the camp," Crawley finished.
