The English opening batter Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of comments from captain Stokes about the team environment not being "weak men".
Stokes made those words in multiple conversations in the wake of his team's defeat in the second match of the Ashes series versus the Australians previously.
In the lead-up to the third Test, where England are staring at defeat with a match to spare, Stokes noted he had allowed his message to "drift around" within the squad.
"I have completed the necessary discussions in recent days that I required," remarked Stokes.
But, following Crawley scored 85 on the penultimate 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 press with a pinch of salt," he added.
Frank Discussions and Steady Philosophy
The captain made the "weak men" comment after his side were beaten in the second Test to go 2-0 down.
The England squad afterwards took a holiday to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Before the Adelaide contest, Stokes revealed his team had held "honest" conversations and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to remain in contention in the series.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman asserted the messaging from the captain and head coach McCullum had stayed in line with their prior three years in leadership.
"It's been extremely upbeat, the same as always," noted Crawley. "It's on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with great liberty. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat going into this game."
Australia Close of Historic Series Victory
Crawley's wicket late on Saturday came during a decisive three-wicket burst by Australia off-spinner Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Brook and Stokes himself – left England 207-6 chasing a daunting total of 435 runs.
Consequently, the home team need four wickets on Sunday's last day to secure an insurmountable three-nil lead with three matches played.
A loss would prolong England's drought in this country to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes series defeat.
This series is set to be decided in just 11 days of play – after England losing the first two Tests in rapid time each.
Not since 1921, when Australia completed victory in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been decided so quickly. The hosts have also won in eleven days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"This is disheartening," said Crawley. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel now."
"There remains plenty to play for and we will certainly approach it like that," Crawley added.
"The challenge has been tough. Australia is a very, very good team. It was always going to be hard touring here against them. They entered as the front-runners coming in to it they've proven why."
Pope's Place In Question
Although Crawley's performance in the third Test likely secures doubts about his short-term place in the side, Ollie Pope appears under immense pressure for his position in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 runs in England's second innings on Saturday, adding to his poor record against the old enemy.
Across 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has failed to score a half-century and averages just 17.62.
Only one other England player in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has played as many times in the top six in the Ashes and recorded a poorer average.
But, Crawley insisted any notion his teammate is under the microscope originates with "the media" – meaning the press – "not inside the camp."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," said Crawley. "He has had a productive year to be frank."
"He has played some really good knocks. This is noise from the outside. There's no discussion of that nature regarding Pope in the camp," he finished.
