Jake Long was just waiting for that call from an NFL team, confident his right knee was healthy again and thus frustrated to be out of action.

The Minnesota Vikings, with both a former coach and quarterback of Long’s as a bonus, finally checked in on the other end of the line.

“I know the type of player that I am, and I’ve still got a lot of football left,” Long said Tuesday after his first practice with the team, taking most of his turns at left tackle.

“It was frustrating, but like I said, I kept my head down, rehabbed, worked out every single day and knew a call would come eventually, and it finally did.”

Minnesota also placed right tackle Andre Smith on injured reserve, with surgery required on his damaged right triceps. Left tackle Matt Kalil is already on injured reserve following surgery on his right hip, and T.J. Clemmings has had his struggles filling in. Jeremiah Sirles has taken over for Smith.

Right guard Brandon Fusco was held out of practice on Tuesday, too, before the players left for their bye week. He left the 31-13 victory over Houston on Sunday with a concussion and was replaced by Zac Kerin.

Mike Harris, who started last season at right guard and filled in at right tackle the season before, has also been unable to play because of an unspecified medical condition, and general manager Rick Spielman said the Vikings don’t anticipate he’ll play again.

So the Vikings badly needed some help, and the 31-year-old Long was a natural fit as a four-time Pro Bowl pick and All-Pro selection in 2010.

With 10 players on injured reserve, totaling almost $33 million in space under their now-tight salary cap, the Vikings had to make a few adjustments to make Long’s deal fit with a “little magic wand,” Spielman joked.