England opener Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with statements made by skipper Stokes regarding the dressing room as no place for "weak men".
Stokes delivered this message in several interviews following his team's defeat in the second match of the Ashes versus the Australians earlier this month.
In the lead-up to the third Test, where the visitors are staring at defeat with a match to spare, the captain noted he had allowed his message to "drift around" within the squad.
"I have completed all the talking in recent days that I needed to have done," remarked the England leader.
But, after Crawley scored 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he stated: "I missed those remarks."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out 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
Stokes made the "fragile individuals" comment after England were beaten in Brisbane to fall two matches behind.
The England squad afterwards took a holiday to Noosa in the gap between the second and the upcoming matches.
Before the Adelaide contest, he said his players had held "honest" conversations and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to remain in contention in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman asserted the guidance from the captain and coach Brendon McCullum had remained consistent with their previous three years in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, the same as always," said the opener. "It's on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do something special going into this Test."
The Hosts Close of Rapid Series Victory
Crawley's wicket on day four was part of a crucial triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Brook and Stokes himself – meant the chasing side six down for 207 chasing a notional target of 435 runs.
Consequently, Australia need just four more wickets on Sunday's final day to move to an unassailable three-nil advantage after three matches played.
Defeat will extend England's winless run in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth straight away Ashes series defeat.
This series is set to be decided in only eleven days of cricket – with England losing the first two Tests in rapid time each.
Not since 1921, when the Australians sealed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been decided more swiftly. Australia have also won in 11 days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"It's disappointing," said the batsman. "We came here to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel now."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we'll definitely view it like that," he continued.
"The challenge has been difficult. They're a very, very good side. It was always going to be tough coming here to face them. They were the front-runners and they've proven why."
Pope's Place In Question
While Crawley's performance in Adelaide likely secures questions about his short-term future in the side, Pope appears under threat for his position in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
Pope fell for 17 in the team's second innings on Saturday, adding to his poor record against Australia.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has never made a half-century and averages 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman since 1900 – Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top six in the Ashes and returned a lower average.
However, the opener said any suggestion his teammate is being scrutinised originates with "the media" – referring to the journalists – "and not within the team."
"We all know how good of a player he is," said he. "He has had a good year to be frank."
"He has played some really good knocks. It is talk from the outside. There's no chat like that on Ollie amongst the players," he finished.
