England opening batter Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of statements made by skipper Ben Stokes about the dressing room as no place for "weak men".
The all-rounder delivered this message in several conversations following his team's loss in the second Ashes versus 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 allowed his message to "drift around" within the squad.
"I've done all the talking in recent days that I needed to have done," said the England leader.
However, following the opener scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate 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 press with some skepticism," he added.
Frank Discussions and Steady Philosophy
Stokes issued his "weak men" observation subsequent to his side suffered a loss in the second Test to fall 2-0 down.
The team subsequently went on a break to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and third matches.
Before the Adelaide contest, Stokes said his team had held "honest" talks and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their effort to remain in contention in the Ashes battle.
Yet, the Kent batsman stated the messaging from the captain and coach Brendon McCullum had stayed in line with their previous three years in leadership.
"It's been very positive, unchanged," said the opener. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. We believed we were capable of an extraordinary feat entering this game."
The Hosts Close of Rapid Series Victory
The opener's dismissal on day four came during a crucial triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Brook and Ben Stokes – meant the chasing side 207-6 in pursuit of a daunting target of 435.
Consequently, the home team require four wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an insurmountable three-nil lead with three matches played.
A loss would prolong England's drought in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes loss.
The current battle will be completed in just 11 days of cricket – after England fell the initial matches in two and four days each.
Not since 1921, when the Australians sealed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the urn been determined so quickly. Australia have also triumphed in 11 days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"This is disheartening," said the batsman. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and now we are facing elimination now."
"There remains plenty to play for and we'll certainly approach it with that mindset," he continued.
"The challenge has been difficult. They're a very, very good team. It was inevitably tough touring here against them. They entered as the front-runners and have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
Although Crawley's innings in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his short-term place in the side, Ollie Pope looks under immense pressure for his position in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman was out for 17 runs in England's second innings on Saturday, extending his poor record against the old enemy.
In sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has never made a fifty and boasts an average of just 17.62.
A solitary other England player since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top six in the Ashes and recorded a lower average.
But, Crawley insisted any notion his teammate is under the microscope comes from "the media" – referring to the press – "not inside the camp."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," added Crawley. "He has had a good year to be frank."
"He has played several excellent innings. It is talk from the outside. There's no chat of that nature regarding Pope amongst the players," Crawley concluded.
