England opener Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with statements made by captain Stokes about the team environment not being "those lacking fortitude".
The all-rounder made those words in several interviews following England's loss in the second Ashes series versus the Australians earlier this month.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England are staring at defeat with a match to spare, the captain noted he had allowed his sentiment to "drift around" among the playing group.
"I've done the necessary discussions in recent days that I required," remarked Stokes.
However, after Crawley scored 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he commented: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the media with a pinch of salt," he added.
Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy
The captain issued his "weak men" observation subsequent to England were beaten in Brisbane to go two matches behind.
The England squad subsequently went on a holiday to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and the upcoming matches.
Prior to this match, Stokes said his players had held "honest" talks and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their battle to remain in contention in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman asserted the messaging from Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum had stayed in line with their previous three years in leadership.
"It's been very positive, the same as always," noted the opener. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do something special entering this Test."
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 Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – he also bowled Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – meant the chasing side 207-6 in pursuit of a daunting total of 435 runs.
Consequently, Australia need just four more wickets on Sunday's last day to secure an insurmountable 3-0 lead with three matches played.
Defeat will extend England's winless run in this country to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth straight overseas Ashes series defeat.
This series is set to be decided in just eleven days of play – with England losing the first two Tests in rapid time each.
The last time 1921, when the Australians completed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been decided more swiftly. The hosts have also won in 11 days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"This is disheartening," said Crawley. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel now."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we'll certainly approach it with that mindset," he continued.
"The challenge has been tough. Australia is a formidable team. It was inevitably hard coming here to face them. They entered as the favourites coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
Although the opener's innings in the third Test probably answers questions about his immediate place in the England team, Pope looks under immense pressure for his position in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.
Pope was out for 17 runs in England's second innings on Saturday, adding to his poor record against Australia.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has never made a half-century and boasts an average of 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has featured as many times in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a lower average.
However, the opener said any notion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "you guys" – referring to the journalists – "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 to be frank."
"He has produced some really good knocks. It is talk externally. There is no chat of that nature regarding Pope in the camp," Crawley finished.
