The English opener Zak Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of comments made by captain Stokes regarding the team environment not being "weak men".
Stokes delivered those words in several interviews following England's loss in the second Ashes series versus Australia previously.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England are staring at defeat with a match to spare, the captain noted he had allowed his message to "drift around" among the playing group.
"I have completed all the talking in recent days that I required," remarked Stokes.
However, following Crawley scored 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he commented: "I didn't see that."
"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.
Frank Discussions and Steady Philosophy
The captain made the "fragile individuals" observation after his side were beaten in Brisbane to fall 2-0 down.
The England squad subsequently took a holiday to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and third matches.
Prior to this match, he said his players had held "honest" talks and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their battle to remain alive in the series.
Yet, the Kent batsman asserted the messaging from the captain and coach McCullum had stayed consistent with their prior three years in leadership.
"It's been extremely upbeat, the same as always," noted Crawley. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. It felt like we were capable of an extraordinary feat going into this game."
The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Ashes Triumph
The opener's wicket late on Saturday was part of a decisive triple-strike by Australia spinner Nathan Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in a short spell – he also bowled Brook and Ben Stokes – meant the chasing side six down for 207 in pursuit of a notional target of 435 runs.
This means, Australia need four wickets on the last day to secure an unassailable three-nil lead after three matches played.
Defeat will extend the English team's winless run in this country to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth successive overseas Ashes defeat.
The current battle will be completed in just eleven days of play – after England losing the initial matches in two and four days respectively.
Not since 1921, when Australia sealed victory in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the urn been decided more swiftly. The hosts have also triumphed in 11 days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"This is disheartening," said 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 will definitely view it like that," he continued.
"It's been tough. They're a very, very good side. It was inevitably hard touring here against them. They entered as the favourites and they've proven why."
Ollie Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
While the opener's innings in Adelaide probably answers doubts about his immediate future in the side, Pope looks under immense pressure for his position in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 runs in the team's second innings on Saturday, adding to his modest returns against Australia.
Across 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has failed to score a half-century and averages just 17.62.
A solitary other England player in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top order in the Ashes and recorded a poorer average.
However, Crawley insisted any notion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "you guys" – referring to the press – "and not within the team."
"We all know how good of a player he is," said he. "He has had a good year to be frank."
"He has played several excellent innings. It is talk externally. There's no chat of that nature regarding Pope in the camp," he concluded.
