Katherine Webb has gone off the grid ... banning herself from speaking to ANY media outlets ... partly because her superstar QB boyfriend A.J. McCarron is upset that he's been overshadowed by Webb's hotness. 


But sources close to Webb tell us ... McCarron made it clear to her -- he's not happy that the media is ignoring his accomplishments on the field. We're told Webb is taking her relationship seriously and thinks the publicity could torpedo things with A.J. 

Update: Katherine has released a statement to TMZ confirming she cancelled 8 interviews scheduled for today ... but says, "My decision to cancel the interviews was not made at A.J.'s request."

Katherine says she decided to pull out because she feared her relationship with A.J. will be viewed as a "celebrity status" thing ... instead of a real, legitimate connection ... and worries that the misconception could spell doom for the couple. 

"I want it to be about me and him," Webb says ... adding, "He's a guy I can see myself having a real future with."

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