The Dolphins hoped that one or two of their backup receivers would have emerged by now, but offensive coordinator Mike Sherman said that still has not happened.

Sherman indicated Monday that Davone Bess and Brian Hartline “have separated themselves,” but “we’re still looking for the next two guys to step forward.”

On Sunday, Anthony Armstrong received the most receiver snaps (26) after Hartline (77) and Bess (76). But Armstrong caught only two of the six passes thrown to him, for 9 yards, and failed to latch onto a catchable ball on a third-down play in the fourth quarter.

Legedu Naanee played 18 snaps and wasn’t thrown a pass.

“I would like us to get Naanee in position to get some balls,” Sherman said.

Naanee has no receptions this season. Armstrong has three for 12 yards.

Receiver Marlon Moore was inactive because of a hamstring injury but played mostly on special teams in the first two games.

Rookie Rishard Matthews has been inactive all three games.

Coach Joe Philbin said the decision on the No. 3 receiver is fluid, to be based partly on “weekly performance and weekly preparation in practice.”

So far this season, the Dolphins have thrown only eight passes that traveled in the air more than 20 yards, among the lowest total in the league. They have completed just three, including a big one to Hartline in overtime Sunday.

“We’ve been excellent in the running game with explosive plays, not as good in the passing game,” Philbin said.

This and that

• More reaction Monday: Sherman told the team’s offensive players, “We shouldn’t have left it to a field-goal kicker to win the game for us.”

Philbin told his staff: “Look, it’s easy to say Dan Carpenter should have made the kick. We win the game. Wow, we’re great coaches, and we still have all the same problems that occurred on tape if Dan made the kick or didn’t make the kick.”

• Philbin said the Dolphins’ 11 penalties for 65 yards “is too much. The penalty situation was unacceptable.”

• Cornerback Richard Marshall was called for one illegal-contact and one pass-interference penalty.

Asked about the replacement officials, Marshall said he did the exact same thing on two plays; he was called for a penalty on one but not on the other. “I don’t know how to play it or what to do,” he said.

Defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle said: “We’ve got to do a better job getting in initial position on routes so it doesn’t put you in position where you might have to reach.”

• Though defensive end Cameron Wake does not have a sack this season, he has 13 quarterback hurries and “the kid is playing his tail off,” Philbin said. “He’s playing the run very well. We would love him to get more sacks, but, boy, he is playing hard and fast.”

The Dolphins ranked next-to-last in the league in sacks per pass play (with three in three games) “and that’s an area we need to improve,” Coyle said.

• Coyle said the cornerbacks have “got to be more consistent,” though he said Sean Smith “played one of the better games I’ve seen him play.”

• Philbin said he did not speak to Carpenter before his miss in overtime because “I have nothing revolutionary to say at that stage of the game. You know, ‘Kick it through the uprights!’… I’m not a kicking guru by any stretch of the imagination.”