England opener Zak Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of comments made by skipper Stokes about the dressing room not being "weak men".
Stokes made this message in several interviews in the wake of his team's defeat in the second match of the Ashes versus Australia earlier this month.
In the lead-up to the third Test, where the visitors are staring at defeat at the earliest opportunity, the captain stated he had allowed his sentiment to "circulate freely" within the squad.
"I have completed all the talking in recent days that I needed to have done," remarked Stokes.
But, following the opener scored 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he stated: "I missed those remarks."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the press with a pinch of salt," he added.
Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy
The captain issued his "fragile individuals" comment subsequent to his side suffered a loss in Brisbane to go 2-0 down.
The team subsequently went on a break to a Queensland resort between the second and third matches.
Before this match, Stokes revealed his team had held "raw" talks and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to remain in contention in the series.
Yet, Crawley asserted the messaging from the captain and head coach Brendon McCullum had remained consistent with their previous three years in charge.
"It's been extremely upbeat, the same as always," said Crawley. "It's just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do an extraordinary feat going into this Test."
Australia On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory
Crawley's wicket on day four was part of a decisive triple-strike by Australia spinner Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Stokes himself – left England 207-6 in pursuit of a daunting total of 435.
Consequently, Australia require just four more wickets on the final day to move to an unassailable three-nil advantage with three matches played.
Defeat would prolong England's winless run in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth straight away Ashes loss.
The current battle is set to be decided in only eleven days of play – after England fell the initial matches in two and four days respectively.
Not since 1921, when Australia completed a series win in England in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been decided more swiftly. The hosts have also triumphed in eleven days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"It's disheartening," said the batsman. "We came here to win the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we'll certainly approach it with that mindset," he continued.
"The challenge has been tough. They're a very, very good team. It was inevitably hard touring here to face them. They entered as the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Place In Question
While Crawley's performance in the third Test probably answers doubts about his immediate place in the England team, Ollie Pope appears under immense pressure for his spot in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman was out for 17 runs in the team's second knock on day four, adding to his modest returns versus the old enemy.
Across 16 Ashes innings, Pope has failed to score a fifty and averages just 17.62.
Only one other England player in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has featured as many times in the top order in the Ashes and returned a lower average.
But, the opener insisted any notion Pope is being scrutinised originates with "the media" – meaning the journalists – "and not within the team."
"We all know how good of a player he is," said Crawley. "He has had a good year to be frank."
"He has played some really good knocks. It is talk externally. There is no discussion of that nature on Ollie amongst the players," he concluded.
