England opener Crawley suggested he was not familiar with comments from captain Stokes regarding the dressing room not being "weak men".
Stokes delivered those words in multiple conversations following England's defeat in the second Ashes series versus the Australians earlier this month.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where England now face defeat at the earliest opportunity, Stokes stated he had let his sentiment to "circulate freely" among the playing group.
"I have completed the necessary discussions over the past two days that I required," remarked Stokes.
But, following the opener scored a knock of 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, he stated: "I didn't see that."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the media with a pinch of salt," he added.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "weak men" observation after his side were beaten in Brisbane to go 2-0 down.
The team subsequently went on a holiday to a Queensland resort between the second and third matches.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, he revealed his team had held "raw" conversations and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their effort to remain in contention in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, Crawley stated the messaging from Stokes and coach McCullum had remained in line with their prior three years in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, the same as always," said Crawley. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we were capable of an extraordinary feat entering this Test."
Australia Close of Rapid Series Victory
Crawley's dismissal on day four was part of a decisive three-wicket burst by Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – meant the chasing side six down for 207 in pursuit of a notional total of 435.
Consequently, Australia need just four more wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an insurmountable three-nil advantage with three Tests.
Defeat would prolong England's drought in this country to 18 Tests and ensure a fourth straight overseas Ashes defeat.
The current battle is set to be decided in just eleven days of play – after England fell the first two Tests in rapid time each.
Not since 1921, when the Australians completed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been decided so quickly. Australia have also won in eleven days on two other instances in the modern era.
"This is disappointing," admitted Crawley. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and we're facing elimination at this point."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we'll certainly approach it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"It's been tough. They're a formidable team. It was inevitably tough touring here to face them. They entered as the favourites and they've proven why."
Ollie Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
While the opener's innings in the third Test probably answers doubts about his short-term place in the England team, Ollie Pope appears under immense pressure for his position in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 in England's second innings on Saturday, adding to his modest returns versus the old enemy.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has failed to score a fifty and averages just 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has played as many times in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a poorer average.
However, the opener said any notion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – meaning the press – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," added he. "He has had a good year if I'm honest."
"He has played several excellent innings. This is noise from the outside. There's no chat like that regarding Pope amongst the players," Crawley finished.
