England opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with comments made by captain Stokes regarding the dressing room as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
The all-rounder delivered those words in multiple interviews following his team's loss in the second Ashes versus the Australians previously.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England are staring at defeat with a match to spare, the captain noted he had let his sentiment to "circulate freely" among the squad.
"I've done all the talking in recent days that I needed to have done," remarked the England leader.
But, following Crawley scored 85 on the fourth day in Adelaide, he commented: "I missed those remarks."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. We take everything that is said in the press with some skepticism," he added.
Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy
The captain made the "weak men" comment subsequent to his side suffered a loss in Brisbane to fall 2-0 down.
The England squad afterwards went on a break to a Queensland resort between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Prior to this match, he said his team had held "honest" talks and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to stay alive in the Ashes battle.
Yet, the Kent batsman asserted the messaging from the captain and coach Brendon McCullum had remained in line with their prior three years in charge.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," noted Crawley. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do an extraordinary feat entering this Test."
Australia On the Verge of Historic Ashes Triumph
Crawley's wicket late on Saturday came during a decisive three-wicket burst by Australia spinner Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – he also bowled Harry Brook and Stokes himself – left England six down for 207 chasing a notional target of 435 runs.
Consequently, Australia require four wickets on the final day to secure an unassailable three-nil lead after three Tests.
A loss would prolong the English team's winless run in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth straight overseas Ashes defeat.
The current battle is set to be decided in just eleven days of play – after England losing the initial matches in two and four days each.
The last time 1921, when the Australians completed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the urn been decided so quickly. The hosts have also triumphed in eleven days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"This is disappointing," said Crawley. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel at this point."
"There will still be plenty to play for and we'll certainly approach it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"The challenge has been tough. Australia is a very, very good team. It was always going to be hard coming here against them. They were the front-runners and have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Place In Question
While the opener's performance in the third Test probably answers doubts about his short-term future in the England team, Ollie Pope appears under immense pressure for his position in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
Pope fell for 17 in the team's second innings on Saturday, extending his modest returns versus Australia.
In 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has never made a fifty and averages just 17.62.
Only one other English batsman since 1900 – Amiss – has played as many times in the top six in Ashes Tests and returned a lower average.
However, the opener insisted any notion Pope is under the microscope comes from "you guys" – referring to the press – "not inside the camp."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," said Crawley. "He has had a good year if I'm honest."
"He has produced some really good knocks. It is noise externally. There's no chat of that nature on Ollie amongst the players," Crawley concluded.