EXCLUSIVE: RJ Allen tells us he will make MLS Team of the Week "four or more" times in 2016

As he makes his way back from what he called "a tough injury," NYCFC fullback RJ Allen is already thinking big about this season.

Considering that this is a man who was practically thrown to the dogs when Jason Kreis signed him more or less off the street in the spring of 2015, only to post a series of impressive outings up and down the right flank in the summer and fall, you really can't blame Allen for thinking like a superstar.

To the point-- earlier this week, we fired off this tweet to promote an article in our 2016 Season Preview:

The last part of the tweet is, legitimately, a question worth asking. Yes, RJ made two MLS Teams of the Week last season! Don't act like you forgot.

Not long after we posted, Allen gave us the "like" you see pictured above. Fair game. For a good 24 hours, I didn't think anything more of it.

But Wednesday, the hard-running Monmouth grad had a more specific, perhaps audacious answer to our query via direct message on Twitter:

Four or more.

If there's a Vegas betting line on this, the odds are likely against "four or more." But here's the thing: Allen, more than any other player on this roster, has feasted on public doubts about his ability. The skepticism fueled him, and it showed on the field as he grew acclimated to the demands of MLS.

To paraphrase comedy iconoclast Paul Mooney, those doubts are what make RJ Allen's teeth white.

By the time the 2015 season was etched in stone, he had made more MLS Teams of the Week than any NYCFC player besides David Villa.

If the Injury Gods are indeed just, "four or more" might be a tame estimation. Because RJ Allen is New York City FC's version of Lost hero John Locke: don't tell him what he can and can't do.