England opening batter Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of statements from skipper Ben Stokes about the dressing room not being "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes delivered those words in several interviews in the wake of England's defeat in the second match of the Ashes series against Australia earlier this month.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where the visitors now face a series loss at the earliest opportunity, the captain stated he had allowed his sentiment to "drift around" among the squad.
"I've done the necessary discussions over the past two days that I needed to have done," remarked Stokes.
But, following the opener scored a knock of 85 on the fourth day in Adelaide, he commented: "I didn't see that."
"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," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "weak men" observation subsequent to England suffered a loss in Brisbane to go 2-0 down.
The England squad subsequently went on a holiday to a Queensland resort between the second and third matches.
Before the Adelaide contest, he revealed his team had held "raw" conversations and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to remain alive in the Ashes battle.
Yet, the Kent batsman stated the messaging from Stokes and coach McCullum had remained in line with their prior three years in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, the same as always," said Crawley. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. It felt like we were capable of an extraordinary feat entering this Test."
The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Ashes Triumph
Crawley's wicket late on Saturday came during a decisive triple-strike by Australian spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Brook and Ben Stokes – meant England 207-6 chasing a daunting target of 435 runs.
Consequently, Australia require four wickets on Sunday's final day to move to an unassailable three-nil advantage after three Tests.
A loss will extend England's drought in this country to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth successive away Ashes series loss.
This series will be completed in just 11 days of play – after England losing the first two Tests in two and four days each.
Not since 1921, when the Australians completed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the urn been decided more swiftly. Australia have also triumphed in eleven days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"This is disappointing," said Crawley. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and now we are facing elimination now."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we'll definitely view it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"The challenge has been tough. Australia is a formidable team. It was inevitably hard touring here against them. They entered as the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Place In Question
Although Crawley's innings in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his short-term future in the side, Pope looks under threat for his spot in the Melbourne Test starting December 26th.
Pope fell for 17 in England's second innings on day four, extending his poor record versus Australia.
In 16 Ashes innings, Pope has never made a half-century and averages just 17.62.
Only one other England player in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top six in Ashes Tests and recorded a poorer average.
However, Crawley said any notion Pope is under the microscope originates with "the media" – referring to the press – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," said he. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has played some really good knocks. This is noise externally. There is no discussion of that nature on Ollie amongst the players," Crawley concluded.
