England opener Crawley suggested he was not familiar with statements made by captain Stokes regarding the team environment as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes delivered this message in multiple conversations in the wake of his team's loss in the second Ashes against Australia earlier this month.
In the lead-up to the third Test, where England are staring at defeat at the earliest opportunity, Stokes noted he had let his message to "drift around" among the squad.
"I have completed all the talking in recent days that I required," remarked the England leader.
But, following the opener made 85 on the fourth day in Adelaide, he stated: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the press with a pinch of salt," he added.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
Stokes issued his "weak men" observation subsequent to England were beaten in the second Test to go 2-0 down.
The England squad subsequently took a holiday to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and third matches.
Before the Adelaide contest, Stokes said his team had held "honest" conversations and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to stay alive in the series.
Yet, the Kent batsman asserted the guidance from the captain and head coach McCullum had remained consistent with their prior three years in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, unchanged," said the opener. "It's just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with great liberty. We believed we were capable of an extraordinary feat going into this Test."
The Hosts Close of Rapid Series Victory
Crawley's wicket on day four came during a crucial three-wicket burst by Australian spinner Nathan Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Brook and Ben Stokes – left England 207-6 in pursuit of a notional target of 435 runs.
This means, the home team need just four more wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an insurmountable 3-0 advantage after three Tests.
A loss would prolong England's winless run in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes defeat.
This series will be completed in just 11 days of play – with England losing the first two Tests in rapid time each.
The last time 1921, when the Australians completed victory in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been decided so quickly. The hosts have also won in 11 days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"It's disheartening," said Crawley. "We came here to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel now."
"There will still be plenty to play for and we'll certainly approach it like that," Crawley added.
"It's been tough. They're a very, very good team. It was inevitably hard coming here against them. They were the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
Although Crawley's innings in Adelaide likely secures questions about his short-term future in the side, Pope appears under threat for his spot in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
Pope was out for 17 in the team's second innings on Saturday, extending his modest returns against the old enemy.
In sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has failed to score a fifty and boasts an average of 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top order in Ashes Tests and recorded a poorer average.
But, Crawley said any notion his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "you guys" – meaning the press – "and not within the team."
"We all know of his considerable talent," said Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has played several excellent innings. This is talk externally. There's no chat of that nature on Ollie in the camp," Crawley finished.
