The English opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of comments made by captain Ben Stokes about the team environment not being "weak men".
The all-rounder made this message in multiple conversations in the wake of his team's loss in the second Ashes series versus Australia earlier this month.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England now face a series loss at the earliest opportunity, the captain noted he had allowed his sentiment to "circulate freely" among the squad.
"I've done all the talking in recent days that I needed to have done," said the England leader.
However, following Crawley made a knock of 85 on the fourth day in Adelaide, 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 some skepticism," he added.
Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy
The captain issued his "fragile individuals" comment after England were beaten in the second Test to fall two matches behind.
The England squad subsequently went on a holiday to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and third Tests.
Before this match, he revealed his players had held "raw" talks and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman asserted the messaging from the captain and head coach McCullum had stayed in line with their previous tenure in leadership.
"It's been extremely upbeat, the same as always," said the opener. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat going into this game."
Australia On the Verge of Historic Series Victory
The opener's wicket on day four was part of a decisive triple-strike by Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Brook and Stokes himself – meant the chasing side six down for 207 in pursuit of a daunting total of 435 runs.
This means, Australia need four wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an unassailable 3-0 advantage with three matches played.
A loss will extend England's winless run in this country to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive away Ashes series defeat.
The current battle is set to be decided in just 11 days of play – with England fell the first two Tests in rapid time respectively.
Not since 1921, when the Australians completed victory in England in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been decided so quickly. Australia have also triumphed in eleven days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"This is disappointing," said Crawley. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel now."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we'll certainly approach it like that," he continued.
"The challenge has been tough. Australia is a formidable team. It was always going to be tough touring here against them. They were the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
Although Crawley's performance in the third Test likely secures questions about his short-term place in the England team, Pope appears under threat for his position in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 in England's second innings on Saturday, adding to his poor record against Australia.
In 16 Ashes innings, Pope has failed to score a fifty and averages just 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top order in the Ashes and recorded a lower average.
But, Crawley insisted any notion Pope is under the microscope comes from "the media" – meaning the journalists – "not inside the camp."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," said he. "He has had a productive year to be frank."
"He has played some really good knocks. It is talk externally. There is no discussion like that on Ollie in the camp," he finished.
