Hello,

The best time to do a light pruning for azaleas is before the buds start to form and, as you said, recently after flowering is considered the safest time to do so without losing next years flowers. If you’re only touching up a few spots, pruning should be acceptable through the beginning of this month, August, depending on if buds are starting to form. Pruning tells the azaleas to send out new growth though, so fall and winter is not recommended.

If you wish for an opinion, you are welcome to send pictures of what the current growth looks like now.

Feel free to refer to these trusted sources for more details:

Azaleas Demystified: When Do You Prune Azaleas? | N.C. Cooperative Extension (ncsu.edu)

HO-4 (purdue.edu) Page 2 lists azalea under Rhododendron and Azalea in Table 1

Azalea Care | Home & Garden Information Center (clemson.edu)

It's likely too late to trim without the loss of next years flowers, but if you only trim a minimal amount of the longest ones where you don't want it to be- the 'worst', there should still be great blooms next year. The alternative would be to more thoroughly trim - either height OR over the sidewalk (one or the other, not both); it will still flower everywhere you didn't trim, so consider only trimming one part this year, and another the next, alternating top, front, sides, etc. if you miss the end of the blooming period. 

Happy to help!