The English opener Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with comments from skipper Stokes regarding the dressing room as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes delivered those words in several interviews following England's loss in the second match of the Ashes series against Australia earlier this month.
In the lead-up to the third Test, where the visitors are staring at a series loss with a match to spare, the captain stated he had let his message to "circulate freely" among the squad.
"I've done the necessary discussions in recent days that I needed to have done," said the England leader.
But, after Crawley scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he commented: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. We take everything that is said in the media with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
The captain issued his "fragile individuals" observation after England suffered a loss in the second Test to fall 2-0 down.
The England squad subsequently took a break to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and third Tests.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, he said his team had held "raw" conversations and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.
Yet, Crawley stated the messaging from the captain and head coach McCullum had remained in line with their prior tenure in charge.
"It's been extremely upbeat, unchanged," said Crawley. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with great liberty. It felt like we could do something special entering this Test."
Australia Close of Historic Series Victory
Crawley's wicket on day four was part of a crucial triple-strike by Australian spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Brook and Ben Stokes – left the chasing side six down for 207 in pursuit of a notional total of 435 runs.
Consequently, the home team require just four more wickets on Sunday's final day to secure an insurmountable three-nil advantage with three matches played.
A loss would prolong the English team's winless run in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth straight away Ashes series defeat.
The current battle will be completed in only 11 days of cricket – after England losing the first two Tests in two and four days each.
Not since 1921, when Australia completed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been decided more swiftly. The hosts have also won in 11 days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"This is disheartening," said the batsman. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."
"There remains plenty to play for and we'll certainly approach it with that mindset," he continued.
"It's been difficult. Australia is a formidable team. It was inevitably hard coming here against them. They entered as the front-runners and they've proven why."
Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
Although the opener's performance in Adelaide likely secures questions about his short-term future in the side, Ollie Pope looks under threat for his position in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 in England's second knock on Saturday, adding to his poor record versus Australia.
Across 16 Ashes innings, Pope has never made a half-century and averages 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top order in the Ashes and returned a poorer average.
However, Crawley insisted any notion Pope is under the microscope originates with "you guys" – referring to the press – "not inside the camp."
"We all know of his considerable talent," said he. "He has had a good year if I'm honest."
"He has played some really good knocks. It is noise externally. There's no discussion like that regarding Pope in the camp," Crawley finished.
