The English opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with comments made by skipper Stokes regarding the dressing room not being "weak men".
The all-rounder delivered this message in multiple conversations following England's defeat in the second match of the Ashes versus the Australians earlier this month.
In the lead-up to the third Test, where England now face defeat at the earliest opportunity, Stokes noted he had let his sentiment to "circulate freely" within the squad.
"I have completed all the talking over the past two days that I needed to have done," remarked Stokes.
However, after the opener scored 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he stated: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the press with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy
Stokes issued his "weak men" observation after his side suffered a loss in Brisbane to fall two matches behind.
The team afterwards went on a break to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Before this match, he revealed his team had held "raw" talks and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their battle to stay alive in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman asserted the guidance from Stokes and coach McCullum had remained in line with their prior three years in leadership.
"It's been very positive, the same as always," noted the opener. "It's on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with great liberty. We believed we could do something special entering this game."
The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Ashes Triumph
Crawley's dismissal late on Saturday came during a decisive triple-strike by Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
Lyon's three wickets in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – meant England six down for 207 in pursuit of a notional target of 435.
This means, the home team require four wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an unassailable three-nil lead with three matches played.
A loss will extend England's drought in this country to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes loss.
This series is set to be decided in only eleven days of cricket – with England losing the first two Tests in rapid time respectively.
The last time 1921, when Australia completed victory in England in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been determined so quickly. Australia have also won in eleven days on two other instances in the modern era.
"This is disappointing," admitted the batsman. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel now."
"There will still be plenty to play for and we'll certainly approach it with that mindset," he continued.
"The challenge has been tough. They're a formidable team. It was always going to be hard coming here to face them. They were the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
Although Crawley's performance in Adelaide likely secures questions about his immediate future in the side, Ollie Pope looks under threat for his spot in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
Pope fell for 17 runs in England's second knock on day four, adding to his modest returns versus Australia.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has failed to score a half-century and averages just 17.62.
Only one other England player in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has featured as many times in the top six in the Ashes and returned a poorer average.
But, the opener said any notion his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – referring to the journalists – "not inside the camp."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," added Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year to be frank."
"He has played some really good knocks. It is talk from the outside. There's no chat like that regarding Pope amongst the players," he concluded.
