England opening batter Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of statements from captain Ben Stokes regarding the team environment as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
The all-rounder delivered those words in multiple conversations in the wake of his team's loss in the second Ashes series against Australia earlier this month.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England are staring at a series loss with a match to spare, Stokes stated he had let his message to "drift around" among the playing group.
"I have completed all the talking over the past two days that I needed to have done," said Stokes.
However, after the opener scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he stated: "I didn't see that."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. We take anything stated in the media with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "weak men" observation after his side suffered a loss in the second Test to go 2-0 down.
The team subsequently took a holiday to Noosa between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Before this match, he said his team had held "honest" talks and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to stay alive in the series.
Yet, the Kent batsman asserted the messaging from Stokes and coach McCullum had stayed in line with their prior tenure in leadership.
"It's been very positive, the same as always," said the opener. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with great liberty. We believed we were capable of an extraordinary feat going into this game."
Australia On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory
Crawley's dismissal late on Saturday came during a crucial triple-strike by Australia spinner Nathan Lyon.
Lyon's three wickets in a short spell – he also bowled Brook and Stokes himself – meant England six down for 207 in pursuit of a daunting total of 435 runs.
This means, Australia need just four more wickets on Sunday's final day to move to an unassailable 3-0 lead with three matches played.
Defeat would prolong the English team's drought in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth straight overseas Ashes series loss.
This series is set to be decided in just 11 days of cricket – after England fell the first two Tests in two and four days each.
The last time 1921, when the Australians sealed victory in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the urn been decided so quickly. Australia have also triumphed in 11 days on two other instances in the modern era.
"It's disheartening," admitted Crawley. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel now."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we will definitely view 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 against them. They entered as the favourites coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Position In Question
Although the opener's innings in the third Test likely secures questions 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.
Pope was out for 17 in England's second knock on day four, extending his poor record versus Australia.
Across 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has never made a fifty and boasts an average of 17.62.
Only one other English batsman in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top six in the Ashes and returned a poorer average.
However, Crawley insisted any notion Pope is under the microscope comes from "the media" – referring to the journalists – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," said he. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year to be frank."
"He has produced some really good knocks. This is noise externally. There's no discussion of that nature regarding Pope in the camp," he finished.
