The English opening batter Crawley suggested he was not familiar with statements from skipper Stokes regarding the team environment as no place for "weak men".
The all-rounder delivered those words in multiple interviews in the wake of England's defeat in the second Ashes series against Australia earlier this month.
Ahead of the third Test, where England now face a series loss with a match to spare, the captain noted he had allowed his message to "drift around" within the playing group.
"I've done the necessary discussions over the past two days that I required," remarked Stokes.
However, after the opener made a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he stated: "I missed those remarks."
"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
The captain issued his "weak men" comment after England were beaten in the second Test to go two matches behind.
The England squad afterwards took a holiday to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and third matches.
Before the Adelaide contest, he said his team had held "honest" talks and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their battle to remain alive in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman stated the guidance from Stokes and coach McCullum had remained in line with their previous three years in charge.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, unchanged," said Crawley. "It's on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. We believed we were capable of something special going into this game."
The Hosts Close of Rapid Ashes Triumph
Crawley's wicket late on Saturday was part of a decisive triple-strike by Australian off-spinner Lyon.
Lyon's three wickets in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Stokes himself – left the chasing side six down for 207 chasing a daunting target of 435 runs.
Consequently, the home team require four wickets on the final day to move to an unassailable three-nil advantage after three matches played.
Defeat would prolong England's drought in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth straight away Ashes series defeat.
This series will be completed in only eleven days of cricket – after England fell the first two Tests in rapid time respectively.
Not since 1921, when the Australians completed a series win in England in eight days, has the destination of the urn been decided more swiftly. Australia have also won in 11 days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"This is disappointing," admitted the batsman. "We came here to win the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel now."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we'll certainly approach it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"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 Position Under Scrutiny
Although Crawley's performance in Adelaide probably answers doubts about his short-term future in the England team, Pope appears under immense pressure for his spot in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman was out for 17 in the team's second knock on day four, extending his poor record against Australia.
Across 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has failed to score a half-century and boasts an average of just 17.62.
A solitary other England player since 1900 – Amiss – has played as many times in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a poorer average.
However, the opener insisted any notion Pope is under the microscope comes from "the media" – referring to the press – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," said he. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year to be frank."
"He has produced several excellent innings. This is talk from the outside. There is no discussion like that regarding Pope in the camp," Crawley concluded.
