England opener Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with comments from captain Stokes about the dressing room not being "weak men".
The all-rounder delivered this message in multiple conversations in the wake of England's defeat in the second Ashes against the Australians earlier this month.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where the visitors are staring at a series loss at the earliest opportunity, Stokes stated he had allowed his message to "circulate freely" among the playing group.
"I've done all the talking over the past two days that I needed to have done," remarked the England leader.
However, after the opener scored 85 on the fourth 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 press with a pinch of salt," he added.
Frank Discussions and Steady Philosophy
The captain made the "weak men" observation after England were beaten in Brisbane to fall 2-0 down.
The England squad afterwards went on a break to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and the upcoming matches.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, Stokes revealed his players had held "honest" talks and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to remain alive in the series.
Yet, the Kent batsman stated the guidance from the captain and coach McCullum had remained in line with their prior tenure in charge.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, the same as always," noted the opener. "It's just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with lots of freedom. It felt like we were capable of an extraordinary feat going into this Test."
Australia On the Verge of Historic Series Victory
The opener's dismissal late on Saturday came during a crucial three-wicket burst by Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
Lyon's three wickets in a short spell – he also bowled Brook and Stokes himself – left the chasing side 207-6 in pursuit of a notional total of 435 runs.
This means, the home team need four wickets on the final day to move to an insurmountable three-nil lead with three matches played.
A loss would prolong the English team's winless run in this country to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth successive overseas Ashes defeat.
The current battle is set to be decided in just eleven days of play – with England losing the initial matches in rapid time respectively.
The last time 1921, when the Australians completed victory in England in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been determined more swiftly. The hosts have also won in 11 days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"This is disappointing," admitted the batsman. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel at this point."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we will certainly approach it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"The challenge has been tough. Australia is a very, very good side. It was inevitably tough coming here against them. They were the front-runners and they've proven why."
Ollie Pope's Place In Question
While Crawley's performance in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his short-term future in the England team, Pope looks under threat for his spot in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 runs in the team's second knock on day four, adding to his modest returns against Australia.
Across 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has never made a half-century and boasts an average of just 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 recorded a lower average.
But, Crawley insisted any suggestion his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – referring to the journalists – "and not within the team."
"We all know how good of a player he is," added Crawley. "He has had a good year to be frank."
"He has produced several excellent innings. This is noise externally. There's no discussion of that nature on Ollie amongst the players," he finished.
