England opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with statements made by skipper Stokes about the team environment as no place for "weak men".
Stokes delivered those words in several conversations following his team's defeat in the second match of the Ashes series versus Australia previously.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England now face defeat with a match to spare, the captain noted he had allowed his message 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.
But, following the opener scored 85 on the fourth day in Adelaide, he commented: "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 media with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy
Stokes made the "weak men" comment after England suffered a loss in the second Test to go two matches behind.
The team afterwards went on a holiday to Noosa in the gap between the second and third matches.
Before the Adelaide contest, he revealed his players had held "raw" conversations and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their battle to remain in contention in the Ashes battle.
Yet, Crawley asserted the guidance from Stokes and head coach McCullum had remained consistent with their previous three years in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," said Crawley. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do something special going into this game."
Australia On the Verge of Historic Series Victory
Crawley's wicket late on Saturday came during a crucial triple-strike by Australian off-spinner Lyon.
Lyon's three wickets in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Stokes himself – left the chasing side six down for 207 chasing a notional target of 435 runs.
This means, Australia require four wickets on the last day to move to an insurmountable 3-0 advantage with three Tests.
A loss will extend England's drought in this country to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes series defeat.
The current battle is set to be decided in only 11 days of play – after England losing the initial matches in rapid time each.
Not since 1921, when Australia sealed victory in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been decided so quickly. Australia have also won in 11 days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"It's disheartening," admitted Crawley. "We came here to regain 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.
"It's been tough. Australia is a formidable side. It was always going to be tough touring here against them. They were the front-runners and have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
While Crawley's innings in Adelaide likely secures questions about his short-term future in the side, Ollie Pope appears under immense pressure for his spot in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.
Pope was out for 17 runs in the team's second knock on Saturday, adding to his poor record versus Australia.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has never made a half-century and averages just 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman in over a century – Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top order in the Ashes and recorded a lower average.
However, Crawley said any notion his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "you guys" – meaning the journalists – "not inside the camp."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," said Crawley. "He has had a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has played several excellent innings. This is noise from the outside. There is no chat like that on Ollie in the camp," Crawley concluded.
