He played as a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for five seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Miami Dolphins, and also was a member of the New England Patriots and the New Orleans Saints.

He played college football for the North Texas Mean Green and was signed by the Patriots as an undrafted free agent after the 2006 NFL draft.

Cobbs finished his high school career with 4,729 rushing yards and 61 touchdowns on offense, while adding 313 tackles and 16 interceptions on defense.

Playing in every game as a true freshman for North Texas in 2001, Cobbs racked up 399 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 93 carries.

A season-high 112 yards and two scores against Idaho earned him Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week honors.

He was named the Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Week following his performance in the season-opening win against Middle Tennessee State.

Cobbs finished his career at North Texas as the school's all-time leading rusher with 4,050 yards—making him only the 69th player in NCAA history to eclipse the 4,000-yard rushing mark.

Cobbs was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America second team after compiling a 3.3 cumulative GPA during his career.

Cobbs was originally signed as an undrafted free agent out of North Texas by the New England Patriots on May 15, 2006.

In Week 5 of the 2009 season, Cobbs tore a knee ligament after being brought down on a reverse wildcat run versus rival the New York Jets.

[1] For the 2010 season Patrick Cobbs was selected as one of four captains, along with OT Jake Long, LB Karlos Dansby, and S Yeremiah Bell.

Cobbs was released on September 12, 2011, after being placed on injured reserve with an undisclosed injury suffered in the final preseason game.

[3] Cobbs was hired by his alma mater North Texas as the running backs coach in February 2019.