The English opener Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of comments from skipper Ben Stokes about the dressing room not being "weak men".
The all-rounder delivered this message 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 England now face a series loss at the earliest opportunity, Stokes noted he had let his sentiment to "circulate freely" within the squad.
"I have completed the necessary discussions in recent days that I needed to have done," said the England leader.
However, following the opener made a knock of 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, he commented: "I missed those remarks."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. We take everything that is said in the press with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy
The captain made the "weak men" observation subsequent to England were beaten in the second Test to fall 2-0 down.
The team subsequently took a break to Noosa in the gap between the second and third Tests.
Before this match, Stokes revealed his players had held "raw" talks and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to stay in contention in the series.
Yet, the Kent batsman asserted the messaging from Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum had stayed consistent with their previous three years in charge.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," noted Crawley. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with great liberty. We believed we could do something special going into this Test."
Australia Close of Historic Ashes Triumph
The opener's wicket late on Saturday was part of a crucial triple-strike by Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Stokes himself – left the chasing side 207-6 chasing a daunting target of 435.
Consequently, Australia require four wickets on the final day to move to an insurmountable three-nil lead with three Tests.
Defeat would prolong England's drought in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes loss.
The current battle is set to be decided in just 11 days of play – with England losing the initial matches in two and four days each.
The last time 1921, when Australia completed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the urn been decided so quickly. Australia have also won in eleven days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"It's disappointing," admitted the batsman. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."
"There will still be plenty to play for and we'll definitely view it with that mindset," he continued.
"The challenge has been difficult. They're a formidable team. It was inevitably tough coming here to face them. They entered as the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Place In Question
While the opener's innings in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his immediate place in the side, Pope looks under threat for his spot in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman was out for 17 runs in the team's second knock on Saturday, adding to his poor record against Australia.
In 16 Ashes innings, Pope has failed to score a half-century and averages 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top order in the Ashes and recorded a poorer average.
But, the opener said any suggestion his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – meaning the press – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," said Crawley. "He has had a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has played some really good knocks. It is talk externally. There is no chat of that nature regarding Pope in the camp," Crawley finished.
