England opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with comments from skipper Stokes regarding the dressing room not being "weak men".
Stokes delivered this message in several interviews in the wake of his team's defeat in the second Ashes versus Australia previously.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where the visitors are staring at defeat with a match to spare, the captain stated he had allowed his message to "circulate freely" among the squad.
"I have completed the necessary discussions in recent days that I required," remarked Stokes.
However, after Crawley scored a knock of 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, he commented: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the media with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
Stokes made the "fragile individuals" observation after England suffered a loss in the second Test to fall two matches behind.
The team subsequently went on a holiday to Noosa in the gap between the second and third Tests.
Before the Adelaide contest, Stokes revealed his players had held "honest" conversations and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their effort to stay in contention in the series.
Yet, the Kent batsman stated the messaging from Stokes and head coach McCullum had stayed in line with their previous tenure in charge.
"It's been extremely upbeat, unchanged," said the opener. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we were capable of an extraordinary feat entering this game."
Australia Close of Historic Series Victory
The opener's wicket late on Saturday was part of a crucial three-wicket burst by Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Stokes himself – left England 207-6 chasing a notional target of 435 runs.
This means, the home team need four wickets on Sunday's last day to secure an unassailable 3-0 lead with three matches played.
Defeat will extend England's drought in Australia to 18 Tests and ensure a fourth straight away Ashes series loss.
The current battle is set to be decided in only eleven days of cricket – with England fell the first two Tests in two and four days respectively.
Not since 1921, when the Australians sealed victory in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been decided so quickly. The hosts have also won in 11 days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"This is disheartening," admitted Crawley. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and we're facing elimination at this point."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we'll certainly approach it like that," Crawley added.
"It's been difficult. Australia is a formidable side. It was always going to be tough coming here to face them. They entered as the front-runners coming in to it they've proven why."
Ollie Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
Although Crawley's performance in the third Test probably answers doubts about his short-term place in the England team, Pope looks under threat for his position in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
Pope was out for 17 runs in England's second knock on Saturday, extending his modest returns versus Australia.
In sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has failed to score a half-century and averages 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman since 1900 – Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a poorer average.
But, Crawley said any notion Pope is being scrutinised originates with "you guys" – meaning the journalists – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," added Crawley. "He has had a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has produced several excellent innings. It is talk externally. There's no discussion like that regarding Pope amongst the players," he concluded.
