The English opener Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with comments from captain Stokes regarding the dressing room not being "weak men".
The all-rounder delivered this message in multiple conversations in the wake of his team's loss in the second match of the Ashes series versus the Australians previously.
In the lead-up to the third Test, where England are staring at a series loss with a match to spare, Stokes noted he had let his message to "circulate freely" within the playing group.
"I've done all the talking over the past two days that I needed to have done," remarked the England leader.
However, after the opener made a knock of 85 on the penultimate 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," he added.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
The captain made the "weak men" comment after England suffered a loss in Brisbane to fall two matches behind.
The team subsequently went on a holiday to Noosa between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Before this match, he said his players had held "honest" talks and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their battle to remain alive in the series.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman asserted the messaging from the captain and head coach McCullum had stayed in line with their previous three years in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," said Crawley. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with lots of freedom. It felt like we were capable of an extraordinary feat going into this Test."
Australia On the Verge of Historic Series Victory
The opener's dismissal on day four was part of a decisive triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Brook and Stokes himself – left England 207-6 chasing a daunting total of 435 runs.
Consequently, Australia require just four more wickets on Sunday's final day to secure an unassailable 3-0 advantage with three Tests.
A loss will extend England's drought in this country to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth straight overseas Ashes defeat.
This series is set to be decided in only 11 days of cricket – after England losing the initial matches in two and four days respectively.
The last time 1921, when the Australians completed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been determined so quickly. Australia have also triumphed in eleven days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"This is disappointing," said the batsman. "We came here to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel now."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we'll definitely view it like that," Crawley added.
"It's been tough. They're a very, very good team. It was always going to be tough touring here against them. They were the front-runners and they've proven why."
Ollie Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
While the opener's innings in Adelaide probably answers questions about his short-term place in the England team, Pope appears under threat for his spot in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 in England's second knock on Saturday, extending his poor record against the old enemy.
In 16 Ashes innings, Pope has failed to score a fifty and averages just 17.62.
A solitary other England player in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has played as many times in the top order in the Ashes and returned a poorer average.
However, the opener insisted any suggestion his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – meaning the press – "not inside the camp."
"We all know how good of a player he is," said he. "He has had a good year to be frank."
"He has produced some really good knocks. This is noise externally. There's no chat like that on Ollie amongst the players," Crawley finished.
