England opener Crawley suggested he was not familiar with comments made by captain Ben Stokes about the dressing room not being "weak men".
The all-rounder delivered those words in several interviews following England's loss in the second Ashes against the Australians earlier this month.
In the lead-up to the third Test, where England now face defeat at the earliest opportunity, Stokes stated he had allowed his message to "drift around" within the squad.
"I've done the necessary discussions in recent days that I required," remarked the England leader.
But, following the opener made 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he stated: "I missed those remarks."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the media with a pinch of salt," he added.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
Stokes issued his "fragile individuals" observation after his side were beaten 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 matches.
Before this match, he said his players had held "raw" conversations and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to stay alive in the series.
Yet, Crawley asserted the messaging from Stokes and head coach McCullum had stayed consistent with their prior three years in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," said Crawley. "It's just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with great liberty. We believed we were capable of an extraordinary feat entering this game."
Australia On the Verge of Historic Series Victory
The opener's wicket late on Saturday was part of a crucial three-wicket burst by Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in a short spell – he also bowled Harry Brook and Stokes himself – meant England six down for 207 in pursuit of a daunting target of 435 runs.
This means, Australia need just four more wickets on Sunday's last day to secure an unassailable 3-0 advantage with three Tests.
Defeat would prolong England's drought in this country to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth successive overseas Ashes loss.
This series will be completed in only eleven days of cricket – after England fell the initial matches in rapid time respectively.
Not since 1921, when Australia completed victory in England in eight days, has the destination of the urn been decided more swiftly. Australia have also triumphed in 11 days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"It's disheartening," admitted the batsman. "We came here to win the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel at this point."
"There will still be plenty to play for and we'll definitely view it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"The challenge has been difficult. Australia is a formidable team. It was inevitably hard coming here to face them. They were the favourites and have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Place In Question
While the opener's performance in the third Test likely secures doubts about his immediate future in the England team, Pope appears under threat for his spot in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 in the team's second innings on day four, extending his modest returns versus Australia.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has never made a fifty and boasts an average of 17.62.
Only one other English batsman since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top six in Ashes Tests and recorded a lower average.
But, the opener insisted any suggestion his teammate is being scrutinised 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. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year to be frank."
"He has played some really good knocks. This is noise from the outside. There's no chat like that on Ollie in the camp," Crawley concluded.
