The English opener Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of comments from skipper Ben Stokes regarding the team environment as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes made those words in several conversations in the wake of England's loss in the second match of the Ashes versus Australia previously.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where the visitors now face defeat at the earliest opportunity, the captain noted he had allowed his sentiment to "circulate freely" among the playing group.
"I've done all the talking in recent days that I required," remarked the England leader.
However, following the opener scored a knock of 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, he commented: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the press with some skepticism," he added.
Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy
The captain issued his "fragile individuals" comment after England suffered a loss in Brisbane to go 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 players had held "raw" conversations and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their effort to remain in contention in the series.
Nevertheless, Crawley asserted the guidance from the captain and coach Brendon McCullum had remained consistent with their previous tenure in charge.
"It's been extremely upbeat, unchanged," said Crawley. "It's on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat going into this game."
The Hosts On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory
Crawley's wicket on day four came during a decisive three-wicket burst by Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Stokes himself – left the chasing side six down for 207 in pursuit of a daunting total of 435.
Consequently, Australia need four wickets on the last day to move to an insurmountable three-nil lead with three Tests.
A loss would prolong the English team's winless run in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth successive overseas Ashes series loss.
This series is set to be decided in only 11 days of play – with England losing the initial matches in two and four days each.
The last time 1921, when the Australians completed victory in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the urn been decided more swiftly. Australia have also won in 11 days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"It's disappointing," said the batsman. "We came here to win the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel at this point."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we will certainly approach it like that," Crawley added.
"It's been tough. They're a very, very good team. It was inevitably tough touring here against them. They entered as the favourites coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Place In Question
While the opener's performance in the third Test probably answers questions about his immediate place in the England team, Ollie Pope looks under threat for his position in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman was out for 17 in the team's second knock on Saturday, adding to his poor record against Australia.
In sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has never made a half-century and averages 17.62.
A solitary other England player since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has played as many times in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a poorer average.
However, the opener insisted any notion his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "you guys" – referring to the journalists – "not inside the camp."
"We all know of his considerable talent," added Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year to be frank."
"He has produced some really good knocks. It is talk externally. There is no chat of that nature on Ollie amongst the players," he finished.
