England opener Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with statements from captain Ben Stokes about the team environment as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes made this message in several conversations following England's defeat in the second Ashes against Australia earlier this month.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where the visitors are staring at defeat with a match to spare, the captain noted he had allowed his sentiment to "drift around" among the playing group.
"I have completed all the talking over the past two days that I needed to have done," said the England leader.
However, following Crawley scored 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he commented: "I didn't see that."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the media with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Frank Discussions and Steady Philosophy
Stokes made the "weak men" comment after his side were beaten in Brisbane to go two matches behind.
The England squad afterwards went on a holiday to a Queensland resort between the second and the upcoming matches.
Before the Adelaide contest, Stokes revealed his players had held "honest" conversations and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their effort to remain in contention in the Ashes battle.
Yet, Crawley stated the messaging from the captain and coach McCullum had stayed in line with their prior tenure in charge.
"It's been very positive, unchanged," noted the opener. "It's on maintaining positivity, play our way, with great liberty. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat entering this game."
Australia On the Verge of Historic Series Victory
The opener's wicket late on Saturday came during a decisive triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – meant England six down for 207 chasing a notional target of 435 runs.
Consequently, Australia require just four more wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an unassailable 3-0 lead with three matches played.
A loss will extend the English team's winless run in this country to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth straight away Ashes series loss.
This series is set to be decided in just 11 days of cricket – after England fell the first two Tests in two and four days each.
The last time 1921, when the Australians completed a series win in England in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been determined so quickly. Australia have also won in 11 days on two other instances in the modern era.
"It's disheartening," admitted the batsman. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel now."
"There remains plenty to play for and we'll certainly approach it like that," Crawley added.
"The challenge has been tough. Australia is a very, very good team. It was inevitably tough touring here to face them. They entered as the favourites and have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Place In Question
Although the opener's innings in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his short-term future in the England team, Pope appears under threat for his spot in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.
Pope was out for 17 runs in England's second knock on Saturday, adding to his poor record versus Australia.
In 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has never made a fifty and averages 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman since 1900 – Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top six in the Ashes and returned a lower average.
But, the opener said any suggestion 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," added he. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year if I'm honest."
"He has produced several excellent innings. This is talk externally. There's no chat like that regarding Pope amongst the players," he concluded.
