2000 Buick Century shudder while shifting

When the engine is warmed up, some shifts seem to hesitate or shudder. Brief research leads me to suspect the Throttle Position Sensor might be the issue. Question: will a TPS problem always trigger a "check engine" light? Or can the TPS be out a little bit, enough to cause transmission shudder, but not trigger the check engine light? Either way, is such a situation likely to cause transmission damage? Thanks, Doug