England opening batter Crawley suggested he was not familiar with statements made by skipper Ben Stokes about the team environment as no place for "weak men".
Stokes made those words in several conversations in the wake of his team's defeat in the second Ashes against Australia earlier this month.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where the visitors now face defeat with a match to spare, the captain noted he had let his sentiment to "circulate freely" among the playing group.
"I've done all the talking in recent days that I required," remarked Stokes.
But, following the opener scored a knock of 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, he commented: "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," he added.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
The captain issued his "weak men" observation subsequent to his side suffered a loss in Brisbane to fall two matches behind.
The England squad subsequently went on a break to Noosa in the gap between the second and third Tests.
Prior to this match, Stokes revealed his players had held "honest" conversations and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to stay alive in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, Crawley asserted the guidance from the captain and head coach McCullum had remained in line with their prior tenure in charge.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, the same as always," said Crawley. "It's just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do something special entering this Test."
The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Ashes Triumph
Crawley's dismissal late on Saturday was part of a crucial three-wicket burst by Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Brook and Ben Stokes – meant the chasing side 207-6 in pursuit of a notional total of 435.
This means, the home team require just four more wickets on the last day to secure an unassailable 3-0 advantage after three Tests.
Defeat would prolong England's winless run in this country to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes series defeat.
This series will be completed in only 11 days of play – with England fell the initial matches in two and four days respectively.
The last time 1921, when Australia completed victory in England in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been decided more swiftly. The hosts have also won in 11 days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"This is disheartening," said the batsman. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are facing elimination now."
"There will still be plenty to play for and we'll definitely view it with that mindset," he continued.
"It's been tough. Australia is a very, very good team. It was always going to be hard coming here against them. They were the favourites coming in to it they've proven why."
Pope's Place In Question
Although Crawley's innings in the third Test probably answers questions about his immediate place in the England team, Pope appears under threat for his position 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 poor record against Australia.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has failed to score a fifty and averages just 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman since 1900 – Amiss – has featured as many times in the top six in the Ashes and recorded a lower average.
However, the opener insisted any notion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – meaning the journalists – "not inside the camp."
"We all know how good of a player he is," said he. "He has had a productive year to be frank."
"He has produced several excellent innings. This is noise externally. There's no discussion like that on Ollie amongst the players," Crawley concluded.
