The English opening batter Crawley suggested he was not familiar with statements made by captain Stokes about the dressing room as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes made those words in several interviews following his team's loss in the second Ashes series against Australia previously.
In the lead-up to the third Test, where England now face a series loss at the earliest opportunity, Stokes stated he had let his sentiment to "drift around" among the playing group.
"I've done 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 the third Test, he stated: "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," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
Stokes made the "fragile individuals" observation after England were beaten in Brisbane to go 2-0 down.
The team afterwards took a holiday to a Queensland resort between the second and the upcoming matches.
Prior to this match, he said his players had held "raw" conversations and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their effort to remain in contention in the Ashes battle.
Yet, the Kent batsman stated the messaging from Stokes and coach McCullum had remained in line with their previous three years in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, the same as always," noted the opener. "It's on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. It felt like we were capable of something special entering this Test."
Australia Close of Historic Ashes Triumph
Crawley's dismissal late on Saturday came during a decisive three-wicket burst by Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – meant the chasing side 207-6 in pursuit of a notional target of 435.
This means, Australia need four wickets on Sunday's final day to secure an insurmountable three-nil advantage with three Tests.
A loss will extend the English team's drought in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes loss.
The current battle will be completed in only eleven days of play – after England losing the first two Tests in two and four days respectively.
The last time 1921, when Australia completed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been decided more swiftly. The hosts have also won in eleven days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"This is disheartening," admitted Crawley. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and now we are facing elimination now."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we will definitely view it like that," Crawley added.
"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 front-runners and have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
While Crawley's innings in the third Test probably answers questions about his short-term future in the England team, Ollie Pope appears under immense pressure for his spot in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman was out for 17 in England's second innings on day four, adding to his poor record against Australia.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has failed to score a fifty and boasts an average of just 17.62.
Only one other England player in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top order in Ashes Tests and recorded a poorer average.
However, Crawley insisted any suggestion his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – referring to the press – "and not within the team."
"We all know how good of a player he is," added Crawley. "He has had a good year to be frank."
"He has produced some really good knocks. It is talk from the outside. There is no chat of that nature regarding Pope in the camp," he finished.
