England opener Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with statements from skipper Stokes about the team environment not being "those lacking fortitude".
The all-rounder delivered this message in multiple conversations following England's defeat in the second Ashes against the Australians previously.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where England now face defeat at the earliest opportunity, Stokes noted he had let his message to "circulate freely" among the squad.
"I have completed the necessary discussions in recent days that I required," remarked the England leader.
But, after the opener made 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, he stated: "I missed those remarks."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. We take anything stated in the press with a pinch of salt," he added.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
Stokes made the "weak men" comment subsequent to England were beaten in the second Test to fall 2-0 down.
The England squad afterwards went on a holiday to Noosa between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Before the Adelaide contest, he said his players had held "raw" conversations and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to stay in contention in the series.
Yet, the Kent batsman asserted the guidance from the captain and coach McCullum had stayed in line with their prior three years in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, unchanged," said the opener. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with lots of freedom. It felt like we were capable of an extraordinary feat going into this game."
The Hosts Close of Rapid Ashes Triumph
Crawley's dismissal on day four was part of a crucial triple-strike by Australian off-spinner Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – meant the chasing side six down for 207 in pursuit of a notional target of 435 runs.
This means, the home team need four wickets on the final day to move to an insurmountable 3-0 lead with three matches played.
A loss will extend the English team's drought in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth straight away Ashes series defeat.
The current battle will be completed in only eleven days of cricket – after England losing the initial matches in rapid time respectively.
Not since 1921, when the Australians completed victory in England in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been determined so quickly. Australia have also triumphed in 11 days on two other instances in the modern era.
"It's disappointing," admitted the batsman. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."
"There remains plenty to play for and we will certainly approach it like that," he continued.
"It's been tough. Australia is a formidable side. It was always going to be tough touring here against them. They were the front-runners and they've proven why."
Ollie Pope's Place In Question
While the opener's innings in the third Test likely secures questions about his immediate future in the England team, Pope appears under threat for his position in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman was out for 17 runs in England's second knock on Saturday, extending his poor record versus Australia.
In 16 Ashes innings, Pope has failed to score a half-century and averages just 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman in over a century – Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top order in Ashes Tests and recorded a lower average.
But, Crawley insisted any suggestion his teammate is under the microscope comes from "the media" – referring to the journalists – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," added he. "He has had a productive year to be frank."
"He has played some really good knocks. This is talk externally. There's no chat of that nature on Ollie amongst the players," he finished.
