England opener Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with comments from skipper Stokes about the dressing room not being "those lacking fortitude".
The all-rounder made those words in several conversations following England's loss in the second Ashes versus Australia previously.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England now face defeat with a match to spare, the captain noted he had allowed his message to "drift around" among the squad.
"I've done the necessary discussions in recent days that I required," said the England leader.
But, following the opener made 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he stated: "I didn't see that."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the press with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Frank Discussions and Steady Philosophy
The captain issued his "fragile individuals" observation subsequent to his side suffered a loss in Brisbane to fall two matches behind.
The team afterwards went on a holiday to a Queensland resort between the second and third Tests.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, he said his players had held "honest" talks and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to stay alive in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman asserted the guidance from the captain and coach Brendon McCullum had stayed in line with their prior three years in charge.
"It's been very positive, unchanged," noted the opener. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do something special entering this game."
The Hosts On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory
Crawley's dismissal late on Saturday came during a decisive three-wicket burst by Australia spinner Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Harry Brook and Stokes himself – meant the chasing side six down for 207 in pursuit of a daunting total of 435 runs.
This means, the home team require four wickets on the final day to move to an unassailable 3-0 advantage with three Tests.
Defeat will extend England's winless run in this country to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth straight away Ashes series loss.
This series is set to be decided in only eleven days of play – after England fell the initial matches in rapid time respectively.
Not since 1921, when Australia completed a series win in England in eight days, has the destination of the urn been determined more swiftly. Australia have also triumphed in 11 days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"It's disappointing," said the batsman. "We came here to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel now."
"There remains plenty to play for and we will definitely view it with that mindset," 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 were the favourites coming in to it they've proven why."
Ollie Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
Although the opener's innings in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his immediate future in the England team, Pope looks under threat for his position in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 runs in the team's second innings on Saturday, adding to his poor record against Australia.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has failed to score a half-century and averages just 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a poorer average.
However, the opener said any notion Pope is under the microscope originates with "the media" – referring to the press – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," said Crawley. "He has had a good year if I'm honest."
"He has produced some really good knocks. This is talk externally. There's no chat like that on Ollie in the camp," Crawley finished.
