England opener Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of statements from skipper Ben Stokes about the team environment as no place for "weak men".
The all-rounder made this message in several conversations in the wake of England's loss in the second match of the Ashes against Australia earlier this month.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England are staring at defeat with a match to spare, the captain noted he had allowed his sentiment to "circulate freely" among the squad.
"I have completed the necessary discussions in recent days that I needed to have done," remarked the England leader.
But, after Crawley made 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. Our approach is to take anything stated in the media with some skepticism," he added.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
Stokes made the "fragile individuals" comment after his side were beaten in the second Test to go two matches behind.
The team afterwards went on a break to Noosa in the gap between the second and the upcoming matches.
Before the Adelaide contest, Stokes revealed his players had held "raw" conversations and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their effort to stay alive in the series.
Yet, the Kent batsman stated the guidance from Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum had remained consistent with their prior tenure in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, unchanged," said Crawley. "It's just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with great liberty. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat going into this game."
The Hosts Close of Historic Ashes Triumph
The opener's wicket late on Saturday was part of a crucial three-wicket burst by Australian spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – he also bowled Brook and Stokes himself – meant England six down for 207 in pursuit of a notional target of 435.
This means, the home team require just four more wickets on the final day to secure an unassailable three-nil advantage with three Tests.
Defeat will extend England's winless run in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes defeat.
The current battle is set to be decided in just eleven days of cricket – with England losing the initial matches in rapid time respectively.
The last time 1921, when the Australians completed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been determined so quickly. The hosts have also won in eleven days on two other instances in the modern era.
"This is disheartening," admitted Crawley. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we'll certainly approach it like that," he continued.
"It's been difficult. They're a very, very good team. It was inevitably hard coming here to face them. They entered as the favourites and have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Place In Question
While Crawley's performance in Adelaide probably answers questions about his short-term place in the England team, Pope looks under threat for his position in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
Pope fell for 17 runs in the team's second innings on Saturday, extending his poor record versus Australia.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has never made a fifty and averages 17.62.
Only one other England player since 1900 – Amiss – has played as many times in the top order in the Ashes and returned a lower average.
But, Crawley insisted any suggestion his teammate is under the microscope comes from "you guys" – referring to the journalists – "not inside the camp."
"We all know of his considerable talent," added Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has played some really good knocks. This is talk from the outside. There's no discussion like that on Ollie amongst the players," Crawley finished.
