“South Side world doesn’t bother me that much.” That’s it. After winning his third straight conference championship, Patrick Mahomes, is asked the same question again and again: How does he feel about being labeled as the ‘refs’ favorite’? And time and again, his response remains the same. The Chiefs star is not at all bothered by all those noises. But the wild theories convince all the non-Chiefs fans. Either it’s black magic behind their success, or it’s the refs helping them. People who are more inclined towards science believe in the latter. And the Chiefs kingdom, of course, thinks both theories are absurd.

One thing is for sure: the Chiefs players are not catching a break from these questions. So naturally, the more accusations, the less bothered they are. KC’s offensive lineman Creed Humphrey recently appeared on The Rich Eisen Show on Wednesday. The host tossed him the same question millions of others are screaming: “There’s a narrative that there’s a 12th man for the Chiefs, and it’s the head referee of any game that’s calling the Chiefs. What do you say to people who think that?”

And Creed couldn’t be less bothered. “I don’t listen to any of that stuff much, you know? For me, it’s focusing on what we can do!”

Honestly, at this point, it feels like people are just trying to get a reaction from them. ‘Refs’ favorite,’ as people like to call it, QB Patrick Mahomes was also asked the same question. On Wednesday, the Chiefs star chatted with The Drive’s host, Carrington Harrison. And then there was the same old question again, with a little motivation thrown in. Harrison asked Patrick if the Chiefs take all that noise as motivation as they step on the gridiron. 

“I think, more than anything, man, we just want to prove that who the team we are. And how we go about our business every single week. We play the game the right way. We play extremely hard, and everybody goes out there and gets everything they have in order to win for the team’s success,” said Mahomes. 

So, it doesn’t matter what people say. Both Creed and Patrick have one goal: to go out there and do their best. The Chiefs are prepping for the three-peat. And the team has dropped an injury report following the bye week.

Patrick Mahomes has hit the injury list

Black magic and the refs’ bias aren’t the only theories fans have cooked up. There’s another wild one: Patrick Mahomes fakes an injury before the Super Bowl to come off as a hero. In Week 15, when Mahomes got hurt against the Browns and was seen being carted to the medical room, netizens went all in with brutal trolls. Non-Chiefs fans call it his yearly ‘gimmick.’ But the real concern is that since that week, the Chiefs QB has reportedly been struggling with an ankle injury to his right foot.

Although Patrick has missed no games even after suffering that injury, except for the Week 18 game against the Texans, which didn’t matter much. It was probably just to give the QB a little breather before the postseason. And now, ten days before the Super Bowl, he is once again on the injury list. But the QB was a full participant in Wednesday’s practice. 

RB Kareem Hunt and Safety Bryan Cook are also on the injury list with quad issues, along with Mahomes. Offensive tackle Jawaan Taylor’s got a knee injury, too. All three were full participants in Wednesday’s practice, so Chiefs fans probably shouldn’t freak out. Andy Reid mentioned after Sunday’s win that there were no major injury worries.

But, of course, injuries can happen in practice just as much as in games.