The English opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with statements from captain Stokes about the dressing room not being "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes delivered those words in several interviews following England's defeat in the second Ashes series against Australia earlier this month.
In the lead-up to the third Test, where the visitors now face defeat at the earliest opportunity, the captain noted he had allowed his message to "circulate freely" among the playing group.
"I have completed the necessary discussions over the past two days that I required," said the England leader.
However, after Crawley scored 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. We take anything stated in the press with some skepticism," he added.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
Stokes issued his "fragile individuals" comment after England were beaten in Brisbane to fall 2-0 down.
The team afterwards took a break to Noosa between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Prior to the Adelaide contest, he said his team had held "honest" conversations and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to remain in contention in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, Crawley asserted the messaging from the captain and coach Brendon McCullum had remained consistent with their prior three years in leadership.
"It's been very positive, the same as always," noted Crawley. "It's on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do something special entering this game."
Australia On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory
The opener's wicket late on Saturday was part of a crucial triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – including the wickets of Brook and Ben Stokes – left England six down for 207 chasing a daunting total of 435.
This means, Australia need just four more wickets on Sunday's final day to move to an insurmountable 3-0 lead after three Tests.
Defeat will extend the English team's winless run in this country to 18 Tests and ensure a fourth successive overseas Ashes loss.
This series is set to be decided in just eleven days of play – after England fell the initial matches in rapid time each.
Not since 1921, when Australia completed victory in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been decided more swiftly. The hosts have also won in eleven days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"It's disheartening," admitted the batsman. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and now we are facing elimination at this point."
"There will still be plenty to play for and we will certainly approach it like that," Crawley added.
"The challenge has been tough. Australia is a very, very good team. It was inevitably hard touring here against them. They entered as the favourites coming in to it they've proven why."
Ollie Pope's Place In Question
Although the opener's innings in Adelaide probably answers doubts about his short-term place in the side, Pope appears under immense pressure for his spot in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.
Pope fell for 17 in the team's second innings on day four, extending his poor record against the old enemy.
Across 16 Ashes innings, Pope has never made a half-century and boasts an average of 17.62.
Only one other England player since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top six in Ashes Tests and returned a lower average.
However, Crawley insisted any notion his teammate is under the microscope originates with "the media" – referring to the journalists – "not inside the camp."
"We all know of his considerable talent," added he. "He has had a productive year to be frank."
"He has played some really good knocks. This is talk externally. There's no discussion of that nature on Ollie in the camp," he finished.
