The English opening batter Zak Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments from skipper Stokes about the dressing room not being "weak men".
Stokes delivered those words in several interviews following his team's defeat in the second match of the Ashes series versus Australia previously.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where the visitors are staring at defeat at the earliest opportunity, Stokes stated he had allowed his message to "drift around" within the playing group.
"I have completed all the talking over the past two days that I required," said Stokes.
But, following the opener scored 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he commented: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the press with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy
The captain issued his "fragile individuals" comment subsequent to England 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 third Tests.
Before the Adelaide contest, Stokes said his team had held "honest" conversations and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their battle to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman stated the messaging from the captain and head coach McCullum had stayed consistent with their prior three years in charge.
"It's been extremely upbeat, unchanged," said Crawley. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with great liberty. We believed we could do something special entering this game."
Australia On the Verge of Rapid Ashes Triumph
The opener's dismissal on day four came during a crucial three-wicket burst by Australian off-spinner Lyon.
Lyon's three wickets in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Stokes himself – meant England 207-6 in pursuit of a notional target of 435.
This means, the home team require four wickets on the last day to secure an unassailable 3-0 lead with three Tests.
Defeat would prolong England's drought in this country to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth successive away Ashes series defeat.
This series is set to be decided in just 11 days of play – with England losing the initial matches in rapid time each.
The last time 1921, when the Australians sealed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been decided so quickly. Australia have also won in 11 days on two other instances in the modern era.
"This is disheartening," admitted the batsman. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are facing elimination now."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we'll certainly approach it with that mindset," he continued.
"It's been difficult. Australia is a very, very good team. It was always going to be tough coming here to face them. They were the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
Although Crawley's innings in Adelaide likely secures questions about his immediate place in the side, Ollie Pope appears under immense pressure for his position in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
Pope fell for 17 in the team's second knock on day four, adding to his poor record versus the old enemy.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has failed to score a half-century and boasts an average of 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has played as many times in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a poorer average.
But, Crawley insisted any suggestion his teammate is being scrutinised originates with "the media" – referring to the press – "not inside the camp."
"We all know how good of a player he is," added he. "He has had a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has played several excellent innings. This is noise from the outside. There's no chat of that nature on Ollie amongst the players," Crawley concluded.
