England opener Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of comments made by skipper Stokes regarding the team environment not being "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes delivered this message in several conversations in the wake of England's loss in the second Ashes against the Australians earlier this month.
Ahead of the third Test, where the visitors now face a series loss at the earliest opportunity, Stokes noted he had let his sentiment to "circulate freely" within the squad.
"I've done the necessary discussions over the past two days that I required," said the England leader.
But, after the opener scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he commented: "I didn't see that."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. We take everything that is said in the press with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
The captain issued his "weak men" observation after England suffered a loss in the second Test to fall two matches behind.
The England squad afterwards went on a break to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and third matches.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, Stokes revealed his team had held "raw" talks and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their effort to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.
Yet, the Kent batsman stated the messaging from Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum had stayed consistent with their previous three years in charge.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, unchanged," said Crawley. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with great liberty. It felt like we could do something special going into this game."
The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Series Victory
The opener's wicket late on Saturday came during a crucial three-wicket burst by Australian spinner Nathan Lyon.
Lyon's three wickets in a short spell – he also bowled Brook and Ben Stokes – meant the chasing side six down for 207 chasing a notional target of 435.
Consequently, the home team need just four more wickets on the last day to move to an insurmountable 3-0 lead after three matches played.
A loss would prolong the English team's drought in this country to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes series defeat.
The current battle will be completed in just eleven days of cricket – with England losing the initial matches in rapid time respectively.
The last time 1921, when the Australians completed a series win in England in eight days, has the destination 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 the batsman. "We came here to win the Ashes and we're facing elimination now."
"There remains plenty to play for and we will certainly approach it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"The challenge has been tough. Australia is a very, very good side. It was inevitably hard coming here against them. They entered as the favourites coming in to it they've proven why."
Ollie Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
While Crawley's innings in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his immediate future in the side, Pope looks under threat for his position in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 in England's second innings on Saturday, adding to his modest returns versus Australia.
In 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has never made a fifty and boasts an average of just 17.62.
Only one other English batsman in over a century – Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a poorer average.
But, the opener said any notion his teammate is under the microscope comes from "the media" – meaning the press – "not inside the camp."
"We all know how good of a player he is," added he. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year to be frank."
"He has played several excellent innings. This is noise from the outside. There's no chat like that on Ollie amongst the players," he finished.
