England opening batter Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments from skipper Stokes about the dressing room not being "weak men".
The all-rounder delivered those words in multiple conversations in the wake of England's loss in the second match of the Ashes against Australia previously.
Ahead of the third Test, where the visitors are staring at defeat at the earliest opportunity, the captain noted he had let his sentiment to "circulate freely" within the squad.
"I've done all the talking in recent days that I needed to have done," said the England leader.
But, after Crawley scored 85 on the fourth day in Adelaide, he commented: "I didn't see that."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the media with a pinch of salt," he added.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
Stokes made the "fragile individuals" observation after his side were beaten in Brisbane to go 2-0 down.
The England squad afterwards went on a break to Noosa in the gap between the second and third matches.
Before this match, Stokes said his players had held "honest" talks and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their effort to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman asserted the guidance from Stokes and coach McCullum had stayed in line with their prior tenure in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, the same as always," said Crawley. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with great liberty. We believed we were capable of an extraordinary feat going into this Test."
The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Ashes Triumph
The opener's wicket late on Saturday came during a decisive three-wicket burst by Australia spinner Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – he also bowled Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – meant the chasing side six down for 207 in pursuit of a notional total of 435 runs.
Consequently, the home team need four wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an insurmountable three-nil lead with three matches played.
Defeat will extend England's drought in this country to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth straight overseas Ashes series loss.
The current battle is set to be decided in only eleven days of cricket – with England losing the first two Tests in two and four days each.
The last time 1921, when the Australians sealed 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 11 days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"It's disappointing," admitted Crawley. "We came here to win the Ashes and we're facing elimination now."
"There remains plenty to play for and we'll certainly approach it with that mindset," he continued.
"It's been difficult. They're a formidable team. It was always going to be tough coming here to face them. They entered as the favourites coming in to it they've proven why."
Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
While the opener's performance in the third Test likely secures questions about his immediate place in the England team, Pope appears under threat for his spot in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 in England's second innings on Saturday, extending his poor record against Australia.
In 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has failed to score a half-century and averages just 17.62.
Only one other England player since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a poorer average.
However, Crawley said any notion his teammate is under the microscope comes from "the media" – referring to the press – "and not within the team."
"We all know how good of a player he is," said Crawley. "He has had a productive year to be frank."
"He has played some really good knocks. It is noise from the outside. There is no chat of that nature regarding Pope amongst the players," he concluded.
