England opening batter Zak Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments made by skipper Stokes regarding the dressing room as no place for "weak men".
The all-rounder delivered this message in several interviews in the wake of his team's loss in the second Ashes against Australia earlier this month.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where the visitors now face a series loss with a match to spare, the captain noted he had allowed his message to "circulate freely" among the playing group.
"I've done the necessary discussions over the past two days that I required," said Stokes.
However, after Crawley made a knock of 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, he commented: "I didn't see that."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the press with some skepticism," he added.
Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy
The captain made the "weak men" comment subsequent to England were beaten in the second Test to go 2-0 down.
The team subsequently went on a break to Noosa in the gap between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, Stokes revealed his players had held "honest" talks and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their effort to stay alive in the series.
Yet, the Kent batsman asserted the messaging from Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum had remained consistent with their prior tenure in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," said Crawley. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with great liberty. It felt like we could do an extraordinary feat going into this game."
The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Series Victory
Crawley's dismissal on day four was part of a decisive triple-strike by Australian off-spinner Lyon.
Lyon's three wickets in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – left England six down for 207 in pursuit of a notional target of 435 runs.
Consequently, Australia require four wickets on the last day to move to an unassailable 3-0 advantage with three Tests.
A loss would prolong England's winless run in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes series defeat.
This series will be completed in only 11 days of play – after England fell the initial matches in two and four days respectively.
Not since 1921, when Australia sealed victory in England in eight days, has the destination of the urn been determined so quickly. The hosts have also won in 11 days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"It's disheartening," admitted the batsman. "We came here to win the Ashes and now we are facing elimination now."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we'll certainly approach it with that mindset," he continued.
"The challenge has been difficult. Australia is a very, very good side. It was inevitably hard coming here to face them. They entered as the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
Although the opener's innings in Adelaide likely secures questions about his short-term place in the England team, Pope appears under threat for his position in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 runs in the team's second innings on day four, extending his modest returns versus Australia.
In sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has never made a fifty and boasts an average of just 17.62.
A solitary other England player since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has played as many times in the top six in Ashes Tests and returned a lower average.
However, the opener insisted any notion his teammate is being scrutinised originates with "the media" – referring to the journalists – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," added Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has produced several excellent innings. This is talk externally. There's no chat of that nature on Ollie in the camp," he concluded.