England opener Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of comments from captain Ben Stokes about the dressing room not being "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes delivered those words in multiple conversations in the wake of his team's loss in the second match of the Ashes series against Australia earlier this month.
Ahead of the third Test, where the visitors are staring at a series loss at the earliest opportunity, the captain stated he had allowed his sentiment to "drift around" among the playing group.
"I have completed the necessary discussions over the past two days that I needed to have done," remarked Stokes.
But, following the opener made a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he stated: "I missed those remarks."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. We take everything that is said in the press with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "weak men" comment after his side were beaten in the second Test 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.
Before the Adelaide contest, Stokes said his players had held "honest" talks and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to remain in contention in the series.
Yet, the Kent batsman stated the guidance from Stokes and head coach McCullum had remained in line with their previous three years in charge.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, unchanged," noted the opener. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do something special entering this game."
Australia Close of Historic Ashes Triumph
Crawley's wicket on day four came during a crucial triple-strike by Australian off-spinner Lyon.
Lyon's three wickets in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Brook and Ben Stokes – meant England six down for 207 in pursuit of a daunting target of 435 runs.
Consequently, the home team need just four more wickets on the final day to move to an unassailable 3-0 advantage after three Tests.
Defeat will extend England's drought in this country to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth straight overseas Ashes series defeat.
The current battle is set to be decided in just 11 days of play – after England fell the first two Tests in two and four days each.
Not since 1921, when Australia completed victory in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been determined so quickly. Australia have also triumphed in 11 days on two other instances in the modern era.
"This is disheartening," said the batsman. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel now."
"There will still be plenty to play for and we will certainly approach it like that," he continued.
"It's been tough. They're a very, very good team. It was always going to be tough coming here to face them. They entered as the front-runners and they've proven why."
Pope's Place In Question
Although the opener's performance in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his short-term future in the England team, Ollie Pope appears under immense pressure for his spot in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 in the team's second knock on day four, adding to his modest returns versus Australia.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has failed to score a fifty and boasts an average of just 17.62.
Only one other England player in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top six in Ashes Tests and recorded a lower average.
However, the opener insisted any notion Pope is being scrutinised originates with "you guys" – referring to the journalists – "and not within the team."
"We all know of his considerable talent," added he. "He has had a productive year to be frank."
"He has played some really good knocks. This is noise externally. There is no chat of that nature regarding Pope in the camp," Crawley concluded.
