MANILA, Philippines -- San Miguel Beer will not have prolific guard Terrence Romeo for the first handful of games in the 2022-23 PBA Philippine Cup, head coach Leo Austria said on Thursday.

The guard is dealing with back spasms that has kept him from practicing with the Beermen for a month now, and is currently undergoing rehab and therapy.

"We don't know how many games [he will miss]," Austria said of Romeo during the PBA media day at Novotel. "We're giving him ample time to recover 100 percent."

Romeo, a former scoring champion, averaged 12.1 points on 36% shooting along with 3.9 assists and 2.8 rebounds per game in the recent Governors' Cup.

"Mga four weeks na siya not practicing with us dahil nahihirapan siya tumayo. Kapag back spasms sa lower back mo, every movement involved 'yan eh, so mahirap," Austria said.

"He was advised by the doctors to rest. Ngayon nasa bahay lang siya. It's a big loss for us, but the players will step up naman," he added.

The Beermen are unsure of how Romeo sustained the injury. The guard had also endured some ailments in the previous conferences, including a hyperextended knee and a dislocated shoulder.

Austria is upbeat that the Beermen have players who can fill in the void left by Romeo. During the 2021 Governors' Cup, they had added Jericho Cruz via free agency while also trading for Simon Enciso.

"There are players who can contribute, who could score like him or who could defend better than him," said Austria. "The confidence of the players, medyo inspired sila because the loss of Terrence in the first few games means it will give additional time to the minutes of other players. So they're preparing for that."

San Miguel opens its campaign in the Philippine Cup on Wednesday against the Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters.