England opening batter Crawley suggested he was not familiar with comments made by captain Ben Stokes about the team environment as no place for "weak men".
Stokes made this message in multiple conversations in the wake of England's defeat in the second match of the Ashes series versus the Australians earlier this month.
Ahead of the third Test, where the visitors now face a series loss at the earliest opportunity, the captain noted he had let his sentiment to "drift around" within the squad.
"I have completed all the talking over the past two days that I needed to have done," remarked Stokes.
But, after Crawley scored 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 press with some skepticism," he added.
Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy
The captain issued his "weak men" observation subsequent to England suffered a loss in Brisbane to go two matches behind.
The team subsequently went on a break to a Queensland resort between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Before the Adelaide contest, he said his players had held "raw" conversations and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to stay alive in the series.
Yet, Crawley asserted the guidance from Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum had remained in line with their previous three years in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, unchanged," noted the opener. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. It felt like we were capable of something special entering this game."
Australia Close of Historic Ashes Triumph
Crawley's wicket on day four was part of a crucial three-wicket burst by Australian spinner Lyon.
Lyon's three wickets in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Brook and Stokes himself – meant the chasing side six down for 207 chasing a notional target of 435 runs.
This means, Australia need four wickets on the last day to move to an unassailable 3-0 advantage with three Tests.
Defeat will extend England's drought in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes series loss.
This series is set to be decided in just eleven days of play – with England losing the initial matches in two and four days respectively.
Not since 1921, when Australia completed a series win in England 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 21st century.
"It's disappointing," admitted Crawley. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."
"There remains plenty to play for and we will definitely view it like that," Crawley added.
"The challenge has been tough. Australia is a formidable side. It was always going to be hard coming here against them. They were the front-runners and they've proven why."
Pope's Place In Question
Although Crawley's performance in the third Test likely secures doubts about his immediate place in the England team, Pope looks under immense pressure 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 modest returns against Australia.
In sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has failed to score a half-century and averages 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman since 1900 – Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top six in Ashes Tests and recorded a lower average.
However, Crawley insisted any notion his teammate is under the microscope originates with "the media" – referring to the press – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," said he. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year to be frank."
"He has played several excellent innings. This is noise from the outside. There is no chat like that on Ollie in the camp," he concluded.
