England opener Crawley suggested he was not familiar with statements from skipper Ben Stokes about the dressing room not being "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes made those words in several conversations following his team's defeat in the second match of the Ashes against the Australians earlier this month.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England now face defeat at the earliest opportunity, the captain stated he had allowed his sentiment to "circulate freely" among the playing group.
"I've done the necessary discussions over the past two days that I needed to have done," remarked the England leader.
But, following the opener made a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he commented: "I didn't see that."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the press with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Frank Discussions and Steady Philosophy
The captain issued his "weak men" comment subsequent to his side suffered a loss in the second Test to fall 2-0 down.
The England squad subsequently went on a break to a Queensland resort between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, he said his team had held "raw" conversations and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their effort to remain alive in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman stated the messaging from Stokes and coach McCullum had stayed consistent with their prior tenure in charge.
"It's been extremely upbeat, the same as always," noted the opener. "It's just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do something special entering this game."
The Hosts On the Verge of Rapid Ashes Triumph
Crawley's dismissal on day four came during a decisive triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Brook and Stokes himself – meant the chasing side six down for 207 in pursuit of a notional total of 435.
This means, the home team need four wickets on the last day to secure an insurmountable 3-0 advantage after three matches played.
Defeat would prolong England's drought in Australia to 18 Tests and ensure a fourth successive overseas Ashes series defeat.
The current battle is set to be decided in only 11 days of play – after England losing the initial matches in rapid time respectively.
Not since 1921, when the Australians sealed victory 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 instances in the modern era.
"It's disappointing," said the batsman. "We came here to regain the Ashes and we're facing elimination at this point."
"There will still be plenty to play for and we'll certainly approach it with that mindset," he continued.
"The challenge has been difficult. Australia is a formidable side. It was always going to be hard touring here to face them. They were the front-runners coming in to it they've proven why."
Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
Although the opener's performance in Adelaide probably answers questions about his short-term future in the side, Pope looks under immense pressure for his position in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman was out for 17 runs in the team's second innings on day four, extending his modest returns versus Australia.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has failed to score a fifty and averages 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman since 1900 – Amiss – has featured as many times in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a poorer average.
However, the opener insisted any notion Pope is under the microscope comes from "the media" – meaning the press – "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 noise from the outside. There's no discussion of that nature on Ollie amongst the players," Crawley concluded.
