England opener Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with statements from captain Stokes about the dressing room not being "weak men".
Stokes delivered this message in several conversations following his team's defeat in the second Ashes series versus the Australians previously.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England now face defeat with a match to spare, the captain stated he had let his message to "drift around" among the squad.
"I have completed all the talking over the past two days that I required," remarked the England leader.
But, following Crawley scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he stated: "I didn't see that."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the media with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy
The captain made the "weak men" comment after his side suffered a loss in the second Test to go two matches behind.
The team subsequently took a holiday to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and third matches.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, he revealed his players had held "honest" talks and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.
Yet, the Kent batsman stated the messaging from the captain and head coach McCullum had stayed consistent with their previous three years in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," said the opener. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. We believed we were capable of an extraordinary feat going into this Test."
Australia Close of Rapid Series Victory
The opener's dismissal late on Saturday came during a decisive triple-strike by Australia spinner Lyon.
Lyon's three wickets in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Brook and Stokes himself – left England six down for 207 chasing a notional total of 435.
This means, the home team require four wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an insurmountable 3-0 lead after three Tests.
Defeat would prolong England's drought in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth successive overseas Ashes loss.
The current battle is set to be decided in only 11 days of play – with England fell the first two Tests in rapid time respectively.
Not since 1921, when Australia completed victory in England in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been determined more swiftly. Australia have also won in eleven days on two other instances in the modern era.
"This is disappointing," said Crawley. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel now."
"There remains plenty to play for and we'll certainly approach it like that," Crawley added.
"It's been tough. They're a very, very good side. It was inevitably hard coming here against them. They entered as the favourites coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
While the opener's performance in Adelaide likely secures questions about his short-term future in the England team, Pope looks under threat for his position in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman was out for 17 in England's second innings on Saturday, adding to his poor record against Australia.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has failed to score a half-century and boasts an average of 17.62.
Only one other England player since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top six in the Ashes and returned a lower average.
But, Crawley insisted any suggestion his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "you guys" – referring to the press – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," said he. "He has had a good year to be frank."
"He has played several excellent innings. This is talk from the outside. There is no chat of that nature on Ollie amongst the players," Crawley concluded.
