The English opener Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of comments from skipper Stokes regarding the dressing room as no place for "weak men".
The all-rounder made this message in multiple conversations following his team's loss in the second match of the Ashes series against the Australians previously.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where England now face defeat at the earliest opportunity, Stokes stated he had allowed his message to "drift around" among the playing group.
"I have completed the necessary discussions over the past two days that I required," remarked Stokes.
However, after Crawley scored 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he stated: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the press with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "fragile individuals" comment after England suffered a loss in Brisbane to go two matches behind.
The team afterwards took a break to Noosa in the gap between the second and the upcoming matches.
Before the Adelaide contest, Stokes said his team had held "honest" conversations and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their battle to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.
Yet, the Kent batsman asserted the guidance from the captain and head coach Brendon McCullum had remained in line with their previous tenure in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, the same as always," noted Crawley. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do something special entering this game."
Australia Close of Historic Ashes Triumph
Crawley's dismissal late on Saturday was part of a crucial triple-strike by Australian spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Harry Brook and Stokes himself – meant England 207-6 in pursuit of a notional total of 435 runs.
This means, Australia need four wickets on the final day to secure an unassailable three-nil lead with three Tests.
A loss will extend England's drought in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth straight overseas Ashes series defeat.
The current battle is set to be decided in only 11 days of cricket – with England losing the initial matches in two and four days respectively.
Not since 1921, when the Australians completed a series win in England in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been decided so quickly. Australia have also won in eleven days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"This is disappointing," admitted the batsman. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are facing elimination at this point."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we'll certainly approach it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"The challenge has been tough. Australia is a formidable team. It was inevitably tough coming here against them. They were the front-runners coming in to it they've proven why."
Ollie Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
Although the opener's innings in Adelaide likely secures questions about his immediate place in the side, Pope appears under threat for his position in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
Pope fell for 17 runs in the team's second knock on Saturday, extending his modest returns versus the old enemy.
In sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has failed to score a half-century and boasts an average of 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman in over a century – Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top order in Ashes Tests and recorded a poorer average.
But, Crawley said any suggestion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – referring to the journalists – "not inside the camp."
"We all know of his considerable talent," added he. "He has had a good year if I'm honest."
"He has played several excellent innings. It is noise externally. There is no chat like that on Ollie in the camp," Crawley finished.
