Adrian Peterson and Percy Harvin haven't created the best headlines this season, but former Vikings coach and current Buccaneers defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier praised his former star players as "great competitors and guys I have a lot of respect for."

"Tremendous talents, Pro Bowl players, both of them," Frazier said Thursday during his weekly press conference in Tampa. "Enjoyed my time with them. Loved both of them. I haven't talked to Percy in a while. I've talked to Adrian through some of the things he's going through. And I wish both of them nothing but the best.

"They were great for me. They helped me tremendously during my time with them. They know from the bottom of my heart, I wish nothing but the best for them in their future endeavors, whatever they may be."

Peterson remains on the commissioner's special exempt list while he addresses a child-abuse charge in Texas. Harvin was traded from Seattle to the Jets a week ago when his temperamental personality created similar problems to what contributed to the Vikings trading him to Seattle before last season.

Frazier, whose Bucs face the Vikings on Sunday in Tampa, was asked if both players were "coachable."

"Oh, yeah, very much so," he said. "Adrian, I don't know if there's a superstar that warrants the accolades more than he does. From my standpoint as a coach, he was what you want to see in a superstar player. Practiced hard, was gracious to his teammates. It was never about him.

"Percy? Tremendous player, tremendous playmaker. We didn't always see eye to eye on some things, but at the end of the day, we both wanted the same thing for our team, and that was to win."