The English opener Crawley suggested he was not familiar with statements made by captain Ben Stokes about the team environment as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
The all-rounder delivered those words in multiple conversations in the wake of England's loss in the second match of the Ashes series against the Australians earlier this month.
Ahead of the third Test, where England are staring at a series loss at the earliest opportunity, the captain noted he had let his message to "drift around" among the playing group.
"I have completed the necessary discussions in recent days that I needed to have done," said the England leader.
But, following the opener scored 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, he commented: "I didn't see that."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the media with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Frank Discussions 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 England squad subsequently went on a holiday to Noosa in the gap between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Before the Adelaide contest, Stokes revealed his players had held "raw" talks and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their effort to stay alive in the Ashes battle.
Yet, Crawley stated the guidance from the captain and coach Brendon McCullum had stayed consistent with their prior three years in charge.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, the same as always," said Crawley. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do an extraordinary feat entering this game."
The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Series Victory
Crawley's wicket late on Saturday was part of a decisive triple-strike by Australian spinner Lyon.
Lyon's three wickets in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Harry Brook and Stokes himself – left England 207-6 chasing a daunting target of 435 runs.
This means, the home team require four wickets on the last day to move to an unassailable 3-0 lead after three Tests.
Defeat will extend the English team's drought in this country to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes defeat.
The current battle will be completed in just eleven days of cricket – after England losing the initial matches in rapid time respectively.
Not since 1921, when the Australians sealed victory in England in eight days, has the destination of the urn been decided more swiftly. The hosts have also triumphed in 11 days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"This is disappointing," admitted the batsman. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel now."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we'll certainly approach it with that mindset," he continued.
"The challenge has been tough. Australia is a formidable team. It was always going to be hard coming here to face them. They were the front-runners and they've proven why."
Pope's Place In Question
Although Crawley's innings in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his short-term place in the side, Pope looks under threat for his position in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
Pope was out for 17 runs in the team's second innings on day four, adding to his poor record against Australia.
In sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has never made a fifty and boasts an average of just 17.62.
Only one other England player since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has featured as many times in the top order in the Ashes and recorded a poorer average.
However, Crawley insisted any suggestion his teammate is being scrutinised originates with "the media" – meaning the press – "not inside the camp."
"We all know how good of a player he is," added he. "He has had a productive year to be frank."
"He has produced some really good knocks. This is talk externally. There's no discussion of that nature regarding Pope in the camp," Crawley finished.
