England opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with comments made by captain Stokes regarding the dressing room not being "weak men".
The all-rounder made this message in several interviews in the wake of his team's defeat in the second Ashes against the Australians previously.
In the lead-up to the third Test, where England are staring at defeat at the earliest opportunity, the captain stated he had allowed his sentiment to "drift around" within the squad.
"I have completed the necessary discussions over the past two days that I needed to have done," said Stokes.
But, after the opener made a knock of 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, he commented: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. We 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 the second Test to go two matches behind.
The team afterwards went on a holiday to a Queensland resort between the second and third matches.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, Stokes revealed his team had held "honest" conversations and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to stay in contention in the series.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman asserted the messaging from Stokes and head coach McCullum had stayed consistent with their prior three years in charge.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, unchanged," noted the opener. "It's on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat going into this game."
Australia On the Verge of Historic Series Victory
Crawley's dismissal on day four came during a crucial three-wicket burst by Australian off-spinner Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in a short spell – he also bowled Brook and Ben Stokes – meant the chasing side 207-6 in pursuit of a notional target of 435.
This means, the home team require four wickets on the last day to move to an unassailable three-nil lead with three matches played.
Defeat will extend England's drought in this country to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes series defeat.
The current battle will be completed in only 11 days of cricket – after England fell the first two Tests in rapid time each.
The last time 1921, when the Australians completed victory in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been decided so quickly. Australia have also won in eleven days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"It's disappointing," admitted Crawley. "We came here to win the Ashes and now we are facing elimination now."
"There remains plenty to play for and we will certainly approach it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"It's been difficult. Australia is a formidable team. It was inevitably tough touring here against them. They entered as the front-runners coming in to it they've proven why."
Pope's Place In Question
Although Crawley's innings in the third Test probably answers doubts about his immediate future in the side, Pope looks under immense pressure for his spot in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.
Pope was out for 17 in England's second innings on Saturday, adding to his modest returns versus the old enemy.
In sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has failed to score a fifty and averages 17.62.
A solitary other England player since 1900 – Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top six in the Ashes and returned a lower average.
However, the opener said any notion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – meaning the press – "not inside the camp."
"We all know of his considerable talent," added he. "He has had a good year to be frank."
"He has played some really good knocks. This is noise from the outside. There's no discussion of that nature regarding Pope amongst the players," he finished.
