Yes, he was sleeping through the night until 5am, with an occasional waking up round midnight, but over the last maybe month to 2 months, he's getting worse. Although he's never been a fan of sleeping or being in his crate at all, even with having it as a tiny pup, and being given treats on fun things in it. Just seems like that pattern is getting worse which leads me to believe its more of a wanting to go sniff for rabbits than really needing to potty (though he does potty anyway).
I did put the grass down to see his reaction, and you sure nailed it, all he wanted to do was chew it