The English opener Crawley suggested he was not familiar with comments made by captain Ben Stokes regarding the team environment not being "weak men".
Stokes delivered this message in several conversations in the wake of his team's loss in the second match of the Ashes series versus Australia earlier this month.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where the visitors now face defeat with a match to spare, the captain noted he had let his sentiment to "drift around" within the playing group.
"I have completed the necessary discussions in recent days that I needed to have done," remarked Stokes.
But, following the opener made a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he commented: "I missed those remarks."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. We take anything stated in the press with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy
The captain made the "fragile individuals" comment after England suffered a loss in the second Test to fall two matches behind.
The England squad afterwards went on a break to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Before the Adelaide contest, he revealed his team had held "honest" conversations and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their battle to remain in contention in the series.
Yet, the Kent batsman stated the guidance from the captain and head coach McCullum had stayed consistent with their previous tenure in charge.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," said Crawley. "It's on maintaining positivity, play our way, with great liberty. It felt like we were capable of an extraordinary feat going into this game."
The Hosts Close of Historic Series Victory
Crawley's dismissal late on Saturday came during a crucial triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – he also bowled Harry Brook and Stokes himself – meant the chasing side six down for 207 in pursuit of a daunting target of 435 runs.
This means, Australia require four wickets on the last day to move to an unassailable three-nil advantage after three Tests.
A loss will extend the English team's winless run in this country to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth straight away Ashes defeat.
The current battle will be completed in only 11 days of play – after England losing the first two Tests in two and four days each.
The last time 1921, when Australia completed victory in England in eight days, has the destination of the urn been determined more swiftly. The hosts have also won in 11 days on two other instances in the modern era.
"It's disappointing," admitted the batsman. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and we're facing elimination at this point."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we will definitely view it with that mindset," he continued.
"The challenge has been difficult. They're a very, very good team. It was always going to be hard touring here against them. They were the front-runners and they've proven why."
Ollie Pope's Place In Question
While the opener's performance in Adelaide likely secures questions about his short-term place in the side, Pope appears under threat for his position in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
Pope was out for 17 in England's second innings on Saturday, extending his poor record against the old enemy.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has never made a half-century and averages just 17.62.
Only one other English batsman since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top six in the Ashes and returned a poorer average.
But, Crawley insisted any suggestion his teammate is under the microscope comes from "the media" – referring to the press – "and not within the team."
"We all know of his considerable talent," added he. "He has had a good year to be frank."
"He has produced several excellent innings. It is talk externally. There's no chat like that regarding Pope amongst the players," he concluded.
