The English opener Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with comments made by captain Stokes about the dressing room as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes delivered those words in several conversations in the wake of his team's loss in the second match of the Ashes against Australia previously.
In the lead-up to the third Test, where England now face a series loss at the earliest opportunity, the captain stated he had allowed his sentiment to "drift around" within the squad.
"I have completed the necessary discussions over the past two days that I required," remarked Stokes.
But, following Crawley scored 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 press with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
Stokes made the "weak men" observation after England were beaten in Brisbane to fall two matches behind.
The team subsequently went on a break to a Queensland resort between the second and third Tests.
Before the Adelaide contest, Stokes said his team had held "honest" conversations and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their effort to stay in contention in the series.
Nevertheless, Crawley stated the messaging from the captain and head coach Brendon McCullum had stayed consistent with their previous tenure in leadership.
"It's been very positive, the same as always," said Crawley. "It's on maintaining positivity, play our way, with great liberty. We believed we could do something special going into this game."
Australia On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory
The opener's dismissal on day four was part of a decisive three-wicket burst by Australian off-spinner Lyon.
Lyon's three wickets in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Brook and Ben Stokes – meant England six down for 207 chasing a daunting total of 435 runs.
This means, Australia require just four more wickets on the final day to move to an insurmountable three-nil advantage with three Tests.
A loss will extend the English team's winless run in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth straight away Ashes series defeat.
The current battle is set to be decided in just 11 days of play – with England losing the initial matches in rapid time respectively.
The last time 1921, when the Australians sealed a series win in England in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been decided so quickly. The hosts have also triumphed in eleven days on two other instances in the modern era.
"This is disappointing," said Crawley. "We came here to win the Ashes and we're facing elimination at this point."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we will certainly approach it like that," he continued.
"It's been tough. Australia is a formidable side. It was inevitably tough touring here against them. They were the favourites coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
While the opener's innings in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his short-term place in the England team, Ollie Pope looks under immense pressure for his position in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman was out for 17 in the team's second innings on day four, adding to his modest returns against the old enemy.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has failed to score a half-century and boasts an average of 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman since 1900 – Amiss – has featured as many times in the top six in Ashes Tests and returned a lower average.
But, the opener insisted any notion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – referring to the press – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," added he. "Ollie has enjoyed a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has produced several excellent innings. It is noise externally. There is no chat like that regarding Pope amongst the players," Crawley concluded.