Apparently someone at the AP reads PFT.

After we pointed out last night that the Associated Press was running a story that misinterpreted a joke that Tom Brady made and wrongly suggested that a nearly five-month-old ankle injury is still bothering him, the AP changed its story.

The AP’s original story began, “New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady says he is slow and can’t jump because of lingering effects of an ankle injury late last season.”

The AP’s new story begins, “New England Patriots’ quarterback Tom Brady described the lingering effects of his injury late last season, saying Saturday that his ankle now feels really good, but he joked that he’s still slow and can’t jump.”

There’s no correction in the new story and no acknowledgment that the AP got anything wrong with its previous story. Neither story carries a byline.

All of the local media who heard Brady’s comments knew he was joking.  The Providence Journal, Worcester Telegram & Gazette, Hartford Courant, Boston Herald and Boston Globe all make clear that Brady’s ankle is fine. Only the AP didn’t get it.

Unfortunately, several media outlets are still running the wrong AP story. The Chicago Tribune has the initial story with the headline, “Ankle continues to bother Brady.” SI.com is running the wrong story with the headline, “Brady still slowed by ankle injury.”

ESPN.com initially ran the incorrect article, and then replaced it with the new article without acknowledging any correction. I have to agree with the ESPN.com commenter who wrote, “BTW props to ESPN for changing the article completely 3 hours after you posted that bogus article, then not giving any indication that there was ever a bogus article out there. No published retraction, no nothing. Just trying to make yourself not look stupid eh ESPN?”

It will be interesting to see whether any of the news outlets that ran the AP story run a correction. Suggesting that the reigning NFL MVP has been hampered by an injury all off-season is kind of a big deal to get wrong.