CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- There was sadness in the face of Carolina Panthers linebacker Thomas Davis on Monday night as he prepared for his foundation’s fourth and final toy drive before Christmas.

The joy of providing gifts for kids at Bruns Academy was dampened by the news that team owner Jerry Richardson, being investigated by the NFL for workplace misconduct, planned to sell the team after the season.

That Davis faced a two-game suspension by the NFL for "targeting" Green Bay Packers wide receiver Davante Adams -- unless the league overrules or reduces the penalty when his appeal is heard this week -- also factored into his mood.

"It's a combination of all that," Davis said. "At the end of the day, as a football team, we've got to remain focused on the task at hand. That's ultimately to win the Super Bowl."

Few, if any, members of the Panthers are closer to Richardson than the 34-year-old Davis. It was Richardson who convinced him to come back after suffering a third torn ACL in his right knee in 2011.

It was Davis who promised Richardson that he would win a title for him after losing Super Bowl 50 following the 2015 season.

"We want to put a Super Bowl ring on Mr. Richardson's finger," Davis said prior to last season's opener. "There was a promise I made to him, and I'm trying to stay true to that promise."

Davis said before this season that this is a team that could do that. Six wins in the past seven games have gotten the Panthers to 10-4, tied with New Orleans atop the NFC South, and have them in position to make a run.

But there is a cloud over the organization for the moment. There's also a cloud over Davis, who's dealing with a plethora of emotions on what will happen next.

"No one knows what the future holds for us as players," he said. "We're going to show up and we've got to keep winning. That's our mindset."

As one team official said, the Panthers tried to treat Monday as a normal business day.

It was anything but.

Coach Ron Rivera spent all but a couple of questions during his day-after-the-game news conference talking about allegations against Richardson of sexual harassment and the use of a racial slur toward a former team scout.

There was no discussion of this week's game against Tampa Bay, in which the Panthers can clinch a playoff berth with a victory.

Then came the news that Tina Becker, who began her career with the Panthers in 1999 as the director of the cheerleaders, was replacing Richardson as chief executive officer overseeing the day-to-day operations of the team.

Mixed in all that were questions about whether the organization would remain in Charlotte past the 2018 season, when a six-year agreement to keep the team in the city ends, or whether rapper Sean "P. Diddy" Combs was serious when he tweeted he wanted to buy the Panthers.

There were also questions on whether former San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who filed a collusion grievance against NFL owners in October because no team has signed him due to his protest, was serious when he tweeted he wanted to join P. Diddy's effort.

The same was asked about two-time NBA MVP Stephen Curry, a native of Charlotte, who also tweeted he wanted to be a part of ownership.

"I'm not going to comment on P. Diddy," Carolina tight end Ed Dickson said. "I respect him as an artist or whatever you want to call him. But Steph Curry, he loves everything North Carolina, so it doesn't surprise me.

"We love Steph and he comes to a lot of games and we got a lot of close relationships with him, so that isn't surprising that Steph wanted to be a part of it."

Dickson was able to crack a smile or two about that.

But the mood at the stadium was mostly as solemn as Davis initially was at his toy drive. As one player told me, "This place will never be the same."

Davis put aside his disappointment when the kids entered the auditorium. He stopped to take selfies with a few. He delivered a new bike to several. This was an important event for him, so he didn't want to let the kids down.

"The reason we started doing this event so long ago was I remember what it was like to wake up on Christmas Day and not have a gift," said Davis, who grew up in Shellman, Georgia. "I don't want kids to ever feel the same way."

But Davis couldn't help but feel down. He insisted his third-quarter hit on Adams after an interception by safety Colin Jones was not meant to harm the receiver. Defensive coordinator Steve Wilks also defended his team captain, saying it wasn't "malicious."

He said the 2014 NFL Walter Payton Man of the Year Award winner didn't deserve to be suspended.

"You have to look at the person," Wilks said of Davis, who won the man of the year award for charity events like Monday's. "We know Thomas as a class act."

Davis understands the decision is with the league. He understands Richardson isn't going to change his mind about selling the team.

But he wants to play. He wants to help the Panthers win their next two games against Tampa Bay and Atlanta so they can enter the playoffs with momentum, maybe even win the NFC South title if New Orleans were to lose a game.

He wants to help the kids at his function read headlines about the Panthers that don't involve the allegations against his boss.

"The most important headline for the kids to really focus in on right now is us winning," Davis said. "We can cure a lot of things if we go out and win football games, especially for our fans. It's a mindset.

"There is a lot that's going on right now, but at the same time as long as we continue to win and show up and do our jobs on Sundays, we can keep our fans happy if we win."