Two issues with pruning now:

- if any flower buds have formed then you will cut them off (you should be able to visually inspect for them)

- pruning encourages new growth; new growth may not have time to harden off before we get winter lows; if that happens the new growth will be killed.

For both those reasons, it would be better to prune in the spring. If you have no flower buds (or don't care), you can prune in late February.

The brown leaves never recover. They eventually fall off. That is normal.

If you don't like them, you can cut them off, one by one.

All of esh's points are very valid.

Don't prune, it won't help and will probably harm.

If you want to prune for other reasons, do it just after they bloom in the spring. That way you don't loose blooms and it still has time to put out new growth.

I would not prune till spring, it will be of no benefit to the plant. If there are absolutely dead leaves on the plant, feel free to pick them off they are doing the plant no good and are just drawing attention to themselves.

As far as pruning next year, you should cut of the dead after you are sure it is dead. There is no rush here. To encourage dense growth pinch new growth on terminals. See the link for details.

Here is a link that might be useful: pruning rhodies for dense growth