England opener Crawley suggested he was not familiar with statements made by skipper Ben Stokes about the team environment not being "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes delivered those words in several conversations following his team's loss in the second Ashes versus Australia earlier this month.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England are staring at defeat at the earliest opportunity, the captain stated he had let his sentiment to "circulate freely" among the squad.
"I have completed the necessary discussions over the past two days that I required," remarked the England leader.
But, following Crawley made a knock of 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 media with a pinch of salt," he added.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
Stokes issued his "weak men" comment after England were beaten in Brisbane to go 2-0 down.
The team subsequently went on a holiday to a Queensland resort between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, Stokes revealed his team had held "honest" talks and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to stay alive in the Ashes battle.
Yet, Crawley asserted the messaging from Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum had remained consistent with their prior three years in charge.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, unchanged," said Crawley. "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 Test."
The Hosts Close of Rapid Ashes Triumph
The opener's wicket late on Saturday came during a crucial three-wicket burst by Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – meant the chasing side 207-6 in pursuit of a daunting target of 435.
This means, the home team need just four more wickets on the last day to move to an insurmountable three-nil advantage after three matches played.
Defeat would prolong the English team's winless run in this country to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes loss.
The current battle will be completed in just eleven days of play – with England losing the first two Tests in two and four days each.
The last time 1921, when Australia sealed victory in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been decided so quickly. Australia have also triumphed in eleven days on two other instances in the modern era.
"This is disappointing," admitted the batsman. "We came here to win the Ashes and now we are facing elimination now."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we will definitely view it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"It's been difficult. They're a very, very good side. It was always going to be tough coming here to face them. They were the favourites coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
While Crawley's innings in the third Test probably answers doubts about his short-term future in the side, Ollie Pope appears under immense pressure for his spot in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 runs in the team's second knock on Saturday, extending his modest returns against Australia.
Across 16 Ashes innings, Pope has failed to score a fifty and averages just 17.62.
Only one other English batsman since 1900 – Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a poorer average.
However, Crawley insisted any suggestion Pope is under the microscope originates with "the media" – meaning the journalists – "and not within the team."
"We all know how good of a player he is," added Crawley. "He has had a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has played several excellent innings. This is talk from the outside. There is no discussion of that nature regarding Pope in the camp," Crawley concluded.
