England opening batter Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of comments made by captain Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
The all-rounder made this message in multiple interviews in the wake of his team's defeat in the second Ashes series versus the Australians previously.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where the visitors are staring at a series loss with a match to spare, the captain noted he had allowed his sentiment to "drift around" among the playing group.
"I've done all the talking in recent days that I required," said the England leader.
However, after the opener made a knock of 85 on the fourth 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 everything that is said in the press with some skepticism," he added.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "weak men" comment subsequent to England were beaten in Brisbane to fall 2-0 down.
The team subsequently took a break to Noosa in the gap between the second and the upcoming matches.
Before the Adelaide contest, he said his team had held "honest" conversations and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to remain alive in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, Crawley asserted the guidance from the captain and coach Brendon McCullum had stayed consistent with their previous tenure in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," noted Crawley. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, play our way, with great liberty. We believed we were capable of an extraordinary feat going into this game."
Australia Close of Historic Ashes Triumph
Crawley's dismissal late on Saturday was part of a decisive triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in a short spell – he also bowled Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – left the chasing side 207-6 in pursuit of a notional total of 435.
Consequently, the home team require four wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an insurmountable 3-0 lead after three Tests.
A loss would prolong the English team's winless run in this country to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth straight overseas Ashes series defeat.
This series will be completed in only 11 days of play – after England losing the first two Tests in rapid time respectively.
Not since 1921, when the Australians sealed a series win in England in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been determined so quickly. Australia have also triumphed in 11 days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"It's disappointing," admitted Crawley. "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.
"It's been tough. Australia is a very, very good side. It was always going to be hard coming here against them. They were the favourites and have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
Although Crawley's performance in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his immediate future in the side, Pope looks under threat for his spot in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
Pope was out for 17 runs in England's second knock on Saturday, adding to his modest returns versus Australia.
In 16 Ashes innings, Pope has never made a fifty and averages 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman since 1900 – Amiss – has featured as many times in the top order in the Ashes and returned a poorer average.
But, Crawley insisted any suggestion his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "you guys" – referring to the journalists – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," said Crawley. "He has had a good year if I'm honest."
"He has played several excellent innings. This is noise externally. There's no discussion like that regarding Pope amongst the players," he finished.
