England opener Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with statements from skipper Stokes regarding the team environment not being "those lacking fortitude".
The all-rounder delivered those words in several conversations in the wake of England's defeat in the second Ashes versus the Australians previously.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where the visitors now face a series loss at the earliest opportunity, Stokes stated he had let his message to "drift around" within the playing group.
"I've done all the talking in recent days that I needed to have done," remarked the England leader.
But, after the opener scored 85 on the fourth day in Adelaide, he commented: "I missed those remarks."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the press with some skepticism," he added.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "fragile individuals" comment subsequent to England were beaten in the second Test to go 2-0 down.
The England squad subsequently went on a break to Noosa between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Prior to this match, he revealed his players had held "honest" conversations and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their effort to stay alive in the series.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman asserted the guidance from the captain and head coach McCullum had stayed in line with their prior tenure in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, unchanged," noted Crawley. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with great liberty. We believed we could do something special entering this game."
Australia On the Verge of Historic Ashes Triumph
Crawley's wicket late on Saturday was part of a decisive triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – he also bowled Harry Brook and Stokes himself – meant the chasing side 207-6 in pursuit of a notional total of 435.
This means, the home team require four wickets on the final day to secure an unassailable 3-0 lead with three Tests.
Defeat will extend England's drought in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes series loss.
This series will be completed in only 11 days of play – after England fell the initial matches in rapid time respectively.
The last time 1921, when the Australians sealed a series win in England in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been determined more swiftly. The hosts have also triumphed in 11 days on two other instances in the modern era.
"It's disheartening," said the batsman. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel at this point."
"There will still be plenty to play for and we'll certainly approach it with that mindset," he continued.
"It's been tough. Australia is a formidable side. It was inevitably hard coming here to face them. They were the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Place In Question
Although the opener's innings in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his short-term future in the side, Ollie Pope looks under immense pressure for his spot in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.
Pope fell for 17 runs in England's second innings on day four, extending his poor record against Australia.
In 16 Ashes innings, Pope has failed to score a half-century and averages just 17.62.
A solitary other England player since 1900 – Amiss – has played as many times in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a lower average.
However, Crawley said any suggestion Pope is under the microscope comes from "you guys" – meaning the journalists – "not inside the camp."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," said Crawley. "He has had a good year to be frank."
"He has produced some really good knocks. It is talk from the outside. There is no discussion like that on Ollie in the camp," he concluded.
