Mike Tomlin isn't settling for merely being good during the Steelers' 6-2 start. Neither is his team

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Mike Tomlin could have played it safe. Could have stuck with Justin Fields. Could have settled for the weekly rock fights that have been the Pittsburgh Steelers ' trademark for a half-decade and counting.

The NFL's longest-tenured coach, however, knew he hadn't seen enough. Not from Fields or the rest of the offense, either.

So Tomlin pulled Fields aside a few days after a relatively easy 19-point win over Las Vegas on Oct. 13 that boosted Pittsburgh's record to 4-2 and told Fields it was time to see if Russell Wilson, now fully recovered from a calf injury, could still cook.

Asked if it was a tough discussion considering Fields had accounted for 10 touchdowns against one turnover, Tomlin shrugged.

“I don’t worry about the difficulty of conversations,” he said at the time. “It’s about whether or not they’re necessary. We’re pursuing big business here. Comfort is not a component of what we’re chasing.”

Neither, it seems, is complacency.

The NFL's most stable franchise is evolving, working with a type of urgency it has perhaps lacked at times during a playoff victory drought that's at seven years and counting.

It's why the Steelers blew up the quarterback room during the offseason and why Tomlin turned to Wilson in mid-October and essentially said, “Let's see what you got."

Turns out, more gas in the tank than Wilson's abrupt exit in Denver would have people believe.

The 35-year-old has thrown for 542 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions in wins over the New York Jets and New York Giants. The offense topped 400 yards in both games, something the Steelers hadn't done in consecutive weeks since 2018.

It's a promising start, though Wilson acknowledged it's just that — a start.

“We have great confidence (but) we haven’t done everything yet,” Wilson said. “We’re obviously sitting here at 6-2, which is a great thing, but it doesn’t mean anything.”

Reaching the playoffs hasn't been the issue for Pittsburgh, which has made it to the postseason in three of the last four years. The problem has been that the Steelers often look overmatched once they get there, lacking the firepower to keep up with teams like the Bills and Chiefs.

That may be changing in 2024. Pittsburgh has reached 20 points in five of its last six games, something it hasn't done since its 11-0 start in 2020, taking some of the pressure off a defense that has spent the last three years well aware that it could ill afford to get into a shootout.

While cornerback Joey Porter Jr. downplayed the idea that the defense has more wiggle room than usual — trotting out a variation of Tomlin's “the standard is the standard” motto — Pittsburgh's ability to score more often has allowed defensive coordinator Teryl Austin to be even more aggressive.

The Steelers are tied for second in the NFL with 15 takeaways, many of them momentum-changers like T.J. Watt's strip-sack of Daniel Jones and Beanie Bishop's clinching interception in the fourth quarter against the Giants, part of what outside linebackers coach Denzel Martin describes as a turnover “culture.”

There's even T-shirts to match. Coaches will hand them out after Saturday walkthroughs. They come with their own color code. Get one, it's a white shirt. Get two, it's a gray shirt. Get three, it's a black shirt. Watt and Bishop are racking them up with increasing frequency.

Yet all is not perfect. The Giants gashed the Steelers for 157 yards rushing, not the best indicator for a team whose second-half schedule includes four games combined with Baltimore, Washington and Philadelphia, three of the most productive running teams in the league.

New York's productivity on the ground was a sobering and in some ways welcome reminder of the considerable work that lies ahead.

“I think that’s good to be able to win ‘in spite of’ sometimes,” Austin said. “And so I’m real confident in our group coming back and working our tail off to be better when we line up and play next.”

It's a methodology that trickles from the top down.

Tomlin's message when he switched quarterbacks was simple: Good is no longer good enough. While Watt and defensive end Cam Heyward — now the longest-tenured defensive player in team history — are building resumes worthy of Hall of Fame consideration, neither has reached a Super Bowl. Watt, in fact, is still waiting for his first playoff victory.

“We can’t get comfortable because we know that we just got to, we got a lot of tough, tough games, a lot of tough ball ahead of us,” outside linebacker Alex Highsmith said. “And so we know our ultimate goal. And so we know we just got to always want to get better and have that championship detail.”

Something Wilson knows a little bit about. He arrived in Pittsburgh in March eager to resurrect his career after two underwhelming seasons with the Broncos. It's early — very early — but his play so far has validated Tomlin's decision to shake up the status quo and maybe set Pittsburgh on a path that's been a slippery slope since reaching the AFC championship in 2016.

“You want to be on the rise as you go,” Wilson said. “I think we’re on that journey right now. We’re on that train of just continuing to grow. I think that’s an exciting thing for this football team, what we’re doing, how we’re doing it.”

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Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Justin Fields warms up before an NFL football game against the New York Giants, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson, left, throws while quarterback Justin Fields watches before an NFL football game against the New York Giants, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson (3) throws during the first half of an NFL football game against the New York Giants, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson answers questions after an NFL football game against the New York Giants, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Pittsburgh Steelers running back Najee Harris, left, carries past New York Giants cornerback Dru Phillips during the first half of an NFL football game Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Matt Freed)

New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones (8) is sacked by Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt (90) during the second half of an NFL football game Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Matt Freed)

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin looks on from the sideline during the first half of an NFL football game against the New York Giants, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson (3) throws a pass during the first half of an NFL football game against the New York Giants, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Matt Freed)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Some 8,000 North Korean soldiers are now in Russia near Ukraine’s border and are preparing to help the Kremlin fight against Ukrainian troops in the coming days, the Biden administration said Thursday.

The new figure is a dramatic increase from a day earlier, when Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin would only say “some” of the troops had moved toward Ukraine’s border in the Kursk region, where Moscow's forces have struggled to push back a Ukrainian incursion.

That also would mean most of the North Korean troops that the U.S. and its allies say have been sent to Russia are now on the Russia-Ukraine border.

The U.S. has estimated a total of about 10,000 North Korean troops are in Russia. Seoul and its allies assessed that the number has increased to 11,000, while Ukraine has put the figure higher, at up to 12,000.

Of the 8,000 in Kursk, “we’ve not yet seen these troops deploy into combat against Ukrainian forces but we would expect that to happen in the coming days,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at a news conference with Austin and their South Korean counterparts.

He said Russia has been training North Korean soldiers in artillery, drones and “basic infantry operations, including trench clearing, indicating that they fully intend to use these forces in front line operations.”

North Korea’s move to tighten its relationship with Russia has raised concerns around the world about how that may expand the war and what Russian military aid will be delivered in exchange.

It’s become a key topic as U.S. and South Korean leaders met this week in Washington, fueling concerns that the presence of those soldiers will further destabilize the Asia-Pacific and broaden Moscow’s war on Ukraine.

South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul condemned the deployment “in the strongest possible terms” and called for an immediate withdrawal of the troops. North Korea’s belligerent actions not only places the European continent but also the Korean peninsula under threat and that Seoul agrees “to take necessary measures accordingly,” he said.

Austin reiterated that Moscow has provided the North Korean troops with Russian uniforms and equipment, another indication they are likely to be used on the front lines.

“Make no mistake, if these North Korean troops engage in combat or combat support operations against Ukraine they would make themselves legitimate military targets,” Austin said.

However he said the injection of North Korean troops was unlikely to cause Ukraine to lose ground in Kursk.

“This 10,000 won’t come close to replacing the numbers that the Russians have lost” in their fighting to date, Austin said. The U.S. estimates that more than 500,000 Russian forces have been killed or wounded in the more than two-year long conflict. The U.S. has provided more than $59 billion in military aid to help Ukraine fend off Russia, and Austin pledged Thursday that another aid package would be announced soon.

The U.S. and South Korean leaders called out China to engage, saying Beijing should be deeply concerned by the movements and the possibility it will further destabilize the region.

“If China is serious about its desire for de-escalation, it should be asking Russia some hard questions at this point and whether it intends to broaden this conflict by this kind of behavior,” Austin said.

There are questions about what new military technologies North Korea might get from Russia in exchange for the deployment and whether it might lead other nations to send their own forces to fight in the war.

North Korea test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile Thursday for the first time in almost a year, demonstrating a potential advancement in its ability to launch long-range nuclear attacks on the American mainland. Some experts speculated that Russia may have provided technological assistance to North Korea over the launch.

As the meeting in Washington was underway, the U.S., South Korea and Japan released a joint statement condemning the missile launch as a “flagrant violation” of numerous U.N. Security Council resolutions and criticizing the deepening military cooperation between North Korea and Russia, particularly the deployment of the North Korean troops.

“We strongly urge (North Korea) to immediately cease its series of provocative and destabilizing actions that threaten peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and beyond,” they said.

In a dramatic moment during a U.N. Security Council meeting earlier Thursday, the deputy U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Robert Wood, first noted the number of North Korean troops near Ukraine.

“And I have a very respectful question for my Russian colleague: does Russia still maintain that there are no DPRK troops in Russia? That’s my only question and final point,” he said.

Russia's deputy ambassador to the U.N., Anna Evstigneeva, did not respond to the comment at the meeting called by Moscow to discuss international peace and security. The session was then adjourned.

Besides troops, North Korea also has provided munitions to Russia, and earlier this month, the White House released images it said were of North Korea shipping 1,000 containers of military equipment there by rail.

Lederer reported from the United Nations. Associated Press writers Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul, South Korea, and Illia Novikov in Kyiv, Ukraine, contributed to this report.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, left, speaks during a joint press briefing with South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun, right, at the Pentagon on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024 in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)

FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un pose for a photo during a signing ceremony of the new partnership in Pyongyang, North Korea, on June 19, 2024. (Kristina Kormilitsyna, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)

South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun speaks during a joint press briefing with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at the Pentagon on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024 in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin smiles during a joint press briefing with South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun at the Pentagon on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024 in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, left, speaks during a joint press briefing with South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun, right, at the Pentagon on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024 in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, right, welcomes South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun, left, to the Pentagon on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024 in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)